A life Worth Living
by Wild Craze
Summary: Nathan, at age 17, already has a strange life, occupied by his criminal activities. When he becomes a mutant, everything changes as his life is brought to another stage where he has to face himself and to become the person he is meant to be *COMPLETE!*
1. A strange life

~Title: A Life Worth Living  
  
~Author: Hello. I'm Wild Craze, the author of the story you are about to read (if you're not, what are you doing here?). I just wanted to specify my name because I guess that a big part of you people (like me) copy the stuff and read it off line, so I would like you to be able to find track of me again if you like what I write, and because I guess it's only fair that if you read my stuff, you should review.  
  
~Rating: PG-13, before it was only for safety, but now it's for the violence  
  
~Summary: This story is about a boy that has a strange life, even before becoming a mutant. Its more adventure and action like, but I will definitely add romance.  
  
~Disclaimer: I'm not going to say that I don't own X-Men, 'cause that's totally obvious.  
  
This is my first X-Men fic that I actually send, so please be nice, even though I greatly appreciate some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 1: A life out of the ordinary  
  
The boy calmly shut his home's entrance door, took off his running shoes and placed them on the plastic mat, as he always did when he came back from school.  
  
His baggy jeans were battered at the rims and on the knee area, but they were still in good shape. Because he followed the style policy, he was also wearing a long sleeved shirt, on top of which was a t-shirt. One was dark blue and the other was red, with a skating symbol on it.  
  
He was definitely a North American with his lightly tanned skin, strong muscles and dark hair. He was quite a normal boy, except for the blue died tip of his hair and abnormally green eyes. People noticed that he had an earring on his left ear, but it was quite frequent these days. Most of the boys in his neighbourhood already had tattoos and piercings in different body parts, so he wasn't seen as an insubordinate boy.  
  
But the old saying comes around: don't be fooled by what you see.  
  
The truth was that he was more unlawful than all those boys of the neighbourhood put together. Without anyone in his town knowing, he was a criminal mastermind very acknowledged by the international underworld, mostly in New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Paris, London and Miami. No one in these cities knew what he looked like, or even what age he was, but all they knew that great help he brought to the strong backstreet Mafioso groups. Even they couldn't trace him down, because they had no idea that they were looking for a seventeen-year-old boy that still lived with his parents in a lost town about two hours from Toronto, in the middle of small woods and fields. They were intrigued by this person only known to them through the alias Bait Hunter, someone to who they spoke through a complicated chat room through the Internet. This person was only in that chat room for ten minutes two times a week, from four o'clock, to four ten, Tuesday and Friday, waiting to see if his correspondents needed anything he could help them with. In exchange, he had a rational amount of money put into one of his multiple Swiss bank accounts, information on different subjects, and a contract, proving that in exchange of his help, the people he assisted had to accept a few services he asked for. Up to now, he had never asked anything to any of those groups.  
  
In his city, he was known as Nathaniel Cage, best student in his advanced class at Saint Paul's civic seminary and captain of a basketball team he had rendered invincible against any of the surrounding cities. He was also a graduate at the Jung Lang School of karate, judo, jujitsu, kung-fu and power control. Usually, it took at least seven years of intense training to graduate, but he had finished in four and a half. That made him the instructor's most prized apprentice. He still went at the dojo three times a week, to practice what he had learned, and sometimes learn new tricks his 'master' showed him. Also, he was sometimes paid to give classes to younger karate students.  
  
He had a few friends, who didn't know about his criminal activities, of course. They didn't know much of Nathaniel, but knew they could count on him in any situation, and rely on his great intelligence. They sometimes wondered why a successful boy like his didn't move to a bigger city to finish his studies in a private school to obtain a diploma that would give him a good job, but the only one who could answer had the delights of not talking. Nathaniel himself.  
  
In reality, Nathan longed to go to the city where he could work more on his criminal activities and build a small following, but for now, he preferred lying low.  
  
A sound was heard from the T.V. room when he dropped his heavy school bag on the wooden floor and keys on the counter. A few instants later, a big berneese mountain dog arrived, and wagged his tail at the sight of his master. Nathan petted him for a while, walking to the small kitchen. He took a can from the fridge, and opened it to drink the cold liquid.  
  
Earlier in the afternoon, His sweared enemy, his girlfriend's ex, had cornered him walking out of the gym. Nathan was almost a professional fighter and would have handled him and his gang very easily if they hadn't attacked in a big group, armed with a few baseball bats. He had received a very hard blow behind the head and had a bloodcurdling headache since then. Weirdly, he hadn't left with any visible mark proving that he had fought. He had left Harris, his enemy, with a black eye, a broken rib and a huge mark on one of his cheeks. The boys in his gang had left with many bruises, two with a broken nose and three with a dislocated jaw. He really was the one who had hurt them more, but really felt like suing the person that had hit him with the bat. When he was getting hit, a very violent rage build up in him, and it was more feral than human. It had taken a lot to control it, and he knew it.  
  
Nathaniel walked up the stairs to his room, and shut the door before his dog could enter. He jumped in his bed, with the idea of sleeping a while to make the headache go away, and fell asleep almost immediately.  
  
At the same time, the X-gene was developing itself in his blood system, transforming him into one of what were the twenty first century's most feared and rejected race of people: Mutants.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I hoped you liked this introduction.  
  
Review to tell me what you think. 


	2. Discovery

You know, I own Nathan. He's MINE! No touchy. If you want to use him, ASK.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2: discovery  
  
Nathan woke up with a head-splitting headache. He opened his eyes, even if it caused him great pain, and looked over at the clock on his night table. It blinked ten thirty a.m. His eyes lit up in horror as he realized that he should have been at school two hours ago.  
  
"How could he have slept twenty hours non-stop?" was the first question that raced to his mind.  
  
He got to his feet, and walked at a snail's pace to his bathroom. He turned on the shower's tap of cold water and slipped under the jet of liquid after having stripped off his clothes in a slapdash fashion. He let the water vivify his senses and finish waking him up, then opened his eyes again. Somehow, he felt a funny sensation in his mind. It was like if he knew things, that he didn't remember studying. Quite an unusual feeling indeed. After drying himself and putting on dry clothes, he walked downstairs to find a note on the fridge written with a purple marker. It was written: I couldn't wake you up in the morning and you looked so tiered that I'll let you stay home today. There's yesterday's supper in the oven, you just need to heat it up if you want to eat it. It was signed mom in a particularly loopy writing he knew belonged to his mother.  
  
Shayleen Cage was a manager at the bank of his town. She worked nine hours per day and made a fair amount of money. Philip Cage, his father, was working with the American government, and was currently in Washington, arguing against mutant regulations. He came back home about a month on two, but always kept in touch.  
  
Since they weren't at all in a difficult money position, Nathan had never mentioned that he had more than three millions in a Swiss account. What was the point?  
  
He opened the fridge and took out the milk carton and the strawberry jam. He placed them on the counter and opened the food cupboard to pull out a loaf of bread. After spreading his jam on one of the broad pieces, he took a bite.  
  
He realized that the bread was somehow much easier to masticate than it was regularly. He finished his piece of bread and passed his index in his teeth to get rid of the strawberry seeds. He pulled it out quickly when he felt a piercing pain on it. He looked at it with fascination, seeing that it was completely gashed, crimson blood gliding in the palm of his hand. He passed his tongue in his mouth but felt nothing. He ran to the small bathroom next to the T.V. room and looked at himself in the glass cabinet. Nothing was wrong with his face . . . before he showed his teeth to the glass. He gasped in surprise, seeing two fangs on either side of his mouth. They weren't visible when he smiled, and only a little noticeable when he talked, but when he opened his mouth completely, they were totally in evidence. Questions rushed to his head. What had happened to him?  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"Nate? Are you awake?" a feminine voice asked form the bottom of the stairs.  
  
No response was heard.  
  
"Honey?" the same voice said, walking up the stairs.  
  
A woman with a mix of blond and brown hair appeared, wearing a red skirt and top that matched.  
  
She opened her son's bedroom door and peeked inside. Her jaw dropped as she saw the room completely upside down: the bed had been moved in an oblique position to look under it, and one of the pillows was ripped, feathers on a big part of the covers. They had been vaguely picked from the floor, where there were books, papers and storing boxes that were niftily stored in his closet a few hours ago. Clothes, other books and documents were on the interior window sill and near his second closet.  
  
She walked in, contouring the obstacles and turned to see her son crippled over his desk, scribbling notes vigorously in a note pad. His computer was on, and the screen showed that he was surfing Internet, and was probably in a chat room, talking to a few persons. A few pages of a dictionary had been ripped from their hardback and a few definitions were circled with a black marker. Many of his science books were open.  
  
Nathaniel didn't react when his mother had entered the room, but jumped when she placed her hand on his shoulder. In fact, he almost riposted with a judo move.  
  
"MOM!" he shouted, catching his breath, looking at her wide-eyed.  
  
"Nate, what's going on?" she half shouted, sounding troubled.  
  
"I'm . . . I'm not feeling good," he said. "I have to find an answer," he said, sitting in his chair again. "It's not normal," he said, picking up his pen that had fallen on the floor.  
  
He kept mumbling things, and his mother decided to leave him alone until supper. She gazed hazardously at the up-side-down room, and closed the door. She had absolutely never seen him act like this.  
  
Downstairs, she turned on the television, and listened to the news, trying to get her mind off her son. A white haired man appeared in the screen.  
  
"And now, Carol Fisher from New York," he said as a lady in a dark blue dress appeared in the screen, behind which we could see the senate.  
  
"Senator Kelly's sudden change of judgment on mutants was so unexpected that people across the United Sates have been stopping their anti-mutant strikes for the past three weeks. The senate is now re-evaluating doctor Jean Grey's sanction of the mutant regulation."  
  
Shayleen heard her son's door open, but no sound of footsteps was heard in the staircase. She turned around and saw him at the bottom of the steps, walking towards the living room. She only asked herself how he could have walked down the stairs so fast and without a sound, but didn't ask him anything.  
  
Nathan walked to one of the armchairs, and sat on it without putting his weight in the seat. He looked at the television, listening to the documentary on mutants a certain doctor Grey had made for the senate hearing.  
  
He felt his mother staring at him, and decided that it was best not to let her know he was probably a mutant, one of those living beings he referred to as 'humans gone retarded'.  
  
"Mom, I'm sorry for the mess I made," he started, without taking his eyes off the T.V. "I was looking for this project that was due for last week, and I couldn't find it anywhere," he lied. "I was redoing it. By the way, Pegasus got into my room," he said, referring to his dog. "Completely ripped my pillow and aggrieved the mess I made. Feathers everywhere."  
  
Shayleen looked considerably convinced, and she looked back at the T.V., now thinking that her son had just lost a piece of homework. They were, after all, what she thought were his first priority.  
  
When the documentary on mutants was finished, Nate walked back to his room, seeing that it was four o'clock. He went in the designated chat room, entered his code, and waited for his correspondents to chat.  
  
The first to arrive was the person under the name 'Morning Orbit', he knew belonged to his stringer in Hong Kong, named in fact Ming Yuan, a drug dealer working for the Yamasaki group. He started writing.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
Clients want a delivery of fifty dart riffles, capacity of five hundred feet, laser sight, model 405 made in Russia, if possible, or the American T- 4 model.  
  
Darts: half an inch, sleeping darts and normal bullets.  
  
Customs to be avoided, and delivered in the usual warehouse.  
  
Morning Orbit.  
  
Nathaniel smiled as he started tapping his response.  
  
Morning Orbit,  
  
No sooner said than done, but fortune favours the brave, doesn't it not?  
  
A bad workman blames his tools.  
  
Bait Hunter  
  
He waited only a few seconds for an answer, as Morning Orbit replied.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
Twenty-five thousand American dollars to complete the job. An additional thirty thousand to your count and our trust to keep.  
  
Morning Orbit.  
  
Nathan found it was an easy job, and it paid well so he accepted the offer. Morning Orbit left the chat room and another client came to him. This one was one of his favorites because he always asked for difficult things to find, and it was a challenge to satisfy him. Of course, Nathan always did.  
  
The person came from Russia and was part of a rebel grouping working against their country's government. He used the codename 'Silent Night'.  
  
Bait Hunter, We need eight fake American passports and local papers.  
  
Your price is ours.  
  
Silent Night.  
  
Nate thought for a moment, thinking about 'Morning Orbit's demand.  
  
Silent Night, In exchange of my help, I would need fifty of your home made dart riffles (model 405) with all the additional equipment: laser sight, capacity of five hundred feet, a supply of darts: half an inch, sleeping darts and normal bullets. One good turn deserves another.  
  
Bait Hunter  
  
A few instants later, Silent Night answered back, and what he wrote brought a smile to Nathaniel's lips, showing one of his fangs.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
No sooner said than done. Every man to his own trade.  
  
It would be my pleasure to get you're need against you're help.  
  
Silent Night.  
  
Nate thanked him, then left the chat room. He had enough work for a night.  
  
Now that he was done with 'Morning Orbit's command, he only needed to infiltrate them in China, where his clients would go get them, to bring the weapons wherever they wanted. It was their problem after that, and if they were caught, no one could trace it back to him.  
  
For 'Silent Night', he had an acquaintance working in transports and regulations that owed him a lot of money. It would be easy enough to get him to make those passports, fake identities and citizenships.  
  
Now that he had finished his business, he came back to his own problem. When he had realized that those fangs probably showed him he was a mutant, he had totally freaked out. That had explained the mess in his room as he was desperately thinking of something to do so he could stop this from happening to him.  
  
He had found precious information, most written by Doctor Jean Grey, about different cases of mutation with teenagers.  
  
It was hard for him to accept what he had become, and he felt the need to confess to someone. For that, he called his best pal, Max.  
  
He searched for his phone for some time, and finally found it under a pile of books and papers he had tossed in a corner. He dialed the number he knew by heart, and the line was answered by Maxim's mother. He asked to talk to him, and a few moments later, he was talking very fast, trying to tell him to meet him near the arcades near the shopping center, tomorrow morning, around eight o'clock. He finished by saying that it was important, then hung up after thanking Max to have accepted.  
  
He engaged conversation at the table during the supper, and it made his mother's last suspicions fly away. Of course, he was careful not to open his mouth too much so she wouldn't remark his fangs.  
  
He pretended to be tiered after eating, and retired to his room, where he continued his research on mutants with the help of Internet.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A lot of blab. but it was just to really put Nate in the status of 'criminal'.  
  
Review? P-p-p-please? 


	3. A true Friendship

Just to add another character in the story. Good guy. Probably also going to become a mutant.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 3: a true friend  
  
Nate had left his house at six in the morning, on a Saturday. It was slightly chilly outside, but very hot for a tardy October day.  
  
At seven, he was waiting in front of the arcade center, barely moving, thinking about what he should do. At eight, Maxim arrived, looking lightly tiered. His red coat flashed 'look at me' and girls would have killed for his smile. He had blond hair and very blue eyes. He was tall, but not as muscular as Nathan, even if he did boxing.  
  
He walked to his friend, his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.  
  
"Wazzup?" he said, forming a blur of haze in front of his mouth.  
  
"Max, we need to talk," Nate said, dead serious. "I have a major problem and I need you're help?"  
  
"Nathaniel Cage needs my help," Max said incredulously. "Well now I've seen it all."  
  
They started walking.  
  
"Before yesterday, I got cornered by Harris' gang," he started.  
  
"Yeah, they came back pretty messed up," Max interrupted.  
  
"I got hit behind the head pretty hard," Nate continued. "I didn't really pay attention to it until I discovered that I had fangs the next day."  
  
Maxim stopped and stared at his friend. "Show me," he said.  
  
Nathan opened his mouth, and showed him the two incisors that hadn't grown since yesterday. Max looked at them with a serious look on his face.  
  
"I . . . I learned that . . . people become mutants when they're exposed to periods of heightened emotional stress," he said. "You think it's that that happened to you?"  
  
Nate nodded.  
  
"Did you find out what's you're mutation?" he asked friendly.  
  
"No," Nate said dully. "Just those fangs, up to date."  
  
"Well, I watched a show on mutants, and you'll probably have something else that will appear," Max said. "But don't worry, I'll help you any way I can."  
  
Nathan smiled a true smile.  
  
"Thanks Max," he said. "What do you think I should tell my mother?"  
  
Maxim's look became murky.  
  
"Nathan," he started. "We both know she hates mutants."  
  
Nathaniel shrugged.  
  
"What do I do?"  
  
"Nothing," Max said. "Hide it from her 'cause she would probably have a negative reaction."  
  
"Yeah. Okay," Nate said with regret.  
  
"Now, come," Max said, walking back to the twenty four hours open arcades where teenagers of all ages were playing games, even this early in the morning. "I have to show you this new game," he said.  
  
Nathan smiled freely, and followed him inside, a great weight lifted off his shoulders.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Not everyone has to hate mutants.  
  
Memo to yourself: REVIEW if you READ. 


	4. Living with it

Small chapter. I have to make something happen, so here it goes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 4: living with it  
  
It had been two months since Nathan had discovered his fangs. Maxim was helping him out, and hanging with him nearly all the time. Shayleen hadn't noticed anything, and neither did Nate's father when he came back from Washington. Nate had learned not to put his fingers in his mouth, or not roll his tongue a certain way to be sure not to cut himself. He also had to abstain himself of kissing his girlfriend a 'certain way', and had to keep backup tooth-brushes in his room because his fangs could cut nearly through them. He continued his normal activities at school, and kept on working with his correspondents on the internet. He sometimes had to call many different people to work out his projects without going out of his town, and it was sometimes very hard to hide his criminal activities from Max, who was very often in his room, and had noticed a few odd notes clipped on his board.  
  
Maxim had tried to make him find out something else about his mutation, but nothing had worked. It was nearly Christmas when he saw that his fangs had completely disappeared. At first, it was a great joy for him, but he soon realized that they appeared and disappeared almost every two days. Maxim suggested that it was maybe because his body was trying to reject his mutation, and Nathan didn't like that thought since being a mutant was in you're blood, and if you're system was rejecting it, it wasn't good.  
  
After Christmas, he had a terrible accident.  
  
He had been outside, shopping for New Year presents for his parents and friends, when suddenly a driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the snow-filled sidewalk. Nathan was there at that precise moment, and the car hit him.  
  
**********  
  
Nooooo. Relax he's not going to die. My story's not even close of finishing. 


	5. The getaway

This chapter is packed with action, because I find it was getting a little it boring. Well, its not that much action, but still, its action. (*damit, too much cranberry juice! I'm going nuts*)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 5; the getaway  
  
He fell into a deep coma, and came out of it about a month and two weeks later, in a hospital room. The first thing he noticed was the number of machines around him. The light was pouring through the window and made him want to get up, but he simply couldn't move a muscle. He waited a long time before anyone entered his room and noticed that he was awake. The first thing he did when he retrieved movement it his arms, was to pull off the breathing mask that covered his nose and mouth, and went in his throat. He pulled out the IV tubes from his arms, after having finished coughing. He after took off the plastic pad on his chest. When he took it off, he saw that the machine next to his bed went off, as a straight line replaced the oblique ones that were going up and down. Immediately, a young nurse entered the room to check on his state. She rushed out of the room before checking that he was okay, being so excited to see him awake.  
  
About five minutes later, Maxim rushed in.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked anxiously.  
  
Nate mumbled something.  
  
"Where . . . where's my mom," he whispered. "Is she here with you?"  
  
"No," Max said with an uncomfortable tone. "She . . . she's working. The nurse is calling her, but . . ."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"I don't think she'll come," he said, even more uncomfortable.  
  
Nathan looked inquisitive, yet also had a bad feeling about what his friend was going to say.  
  
"She . . . she . . . Your parents . . . and other people . . . they saw that you were . . . a . . .a . . ."  
  
Nathan became as white as the sheet that covered him.  
  
"A mutant?" he said, fright expressing itself on his face.  
  
Max nodded.  
  
"Listen, you're my friend and I don't want anything to happen to you," Max said, resolution in his look. "You need to get outa here. Out of Ontario, and even out of Canada, maybe. People from the Mutant Detention Facility (MDF) called you're parents and . . . they said to them that they could pick you up at any time."  
  
Nathan's eyes widened with fear and great anger. He got into an upward position with immense difficulty, and swung his legs to the side of the bed. It was clear to him that they couldn't support his weight. Max contoured the bed and stopped him from falling to the ground.  
  
"I'll give you you're clothes," he said, walking to a drawer. Nathan winced when he took off the hospital shirt he was wearing, there were three parallel scars on his right side, near his ribs. The stitches were very well done, but his side was killing him. He touched the scars and felt that they ended halfway to the middle of his back. The marks would be only a little visible when healed completely.  
  
He received a dark blue shirt in the face, and soon afterwards, a pair of jeans. He put them on quickly then tested his legs again. They were a little shaky, but he could walk.  
  
Max looked lightly amazed to see him be able to move so quickly after three months in a hospital bed. Nathan took socks from the drawer and put them on. He then put on the running shoes he had received at Christmas, and walked out, followed by Max who was handling him a winter coat. He put it on and covered his head with a black boater from one of the pockets. He didn't want to be stopped at the door.  
  
He arrived in the parking, and saw a silver Porsche parked in one of the spots reserved for the doctors. He looked at the handle of the door, and at the lock. He looked at his coat and saw that a ski tag was attached to the pocket zipper. He ripped it off and bent the piece of metal a certain way.  
  
"Nate, you're crazy!" Max whispered, kneeling beside him so the people wouldn't see them playing with the lock. As Nathan expected it, the alarm broke off when the security latch was unlocked. He opened the door and reached his hand under the steering wheel. Max's jaw dropped when he saw his friend pull out a hand full of red, blue, black and yellow wires. The alarm went off.  
  
"Get in!" Nathan said to Max, closing the driver seat and motioning him to the passenger's. He pressed on a few buttons near the key-whole, using a code instead of a key. The magnificent, high-quality car started as people looked at the two teens with doubt. A few doctors and guards appeared out of the sliding glass-panel doors.  
  
"STOP THEM!" one of them shouted. "MY CAR!"  
  
Nathan backed up, the wheels making a shrieking sound on the icy pavement. Max was frantically shouting him to go, as he pulled the steering stick and pressed as hard as he could on the gas pedal. Max was pushed backwards by the speed's pressure, and he crumpled on the door when Nathan turned onto the street without braking, and nearly crashing into another vehicle that was passing by.  
  
Max was terrified as the Porsche was driven at more then one hundred kilometers per hour on a street that had stop signs and lights at almost every fifty meters. Nathan often honked to the cars to sort of tell them that he wasn't stopping. By now, the guards at the hospital must have called the cops, but it would take them about thirty minutes to understand what was going on. Nathan got onto the highway and started driving towards his home. It was about fifteen minutes away. Max stared at him, but Nathan preferred not saying any thing to him yet. After a moment, a question barged in his head.  
  
"Max, what made my parents know I was a mutant?" he said, without looking at him.  
  
"Euh . . . When the car hit you, someone called an ambulance and they brought you at the hospital. The doctor who operated you to try to save you, he put on an oxygen mask, and during the operation, they saw this material cover your wound. It fixed most of the damages and all they had to do was to make the stitches. After they finished, they realized that you were in coma, but you did things in you're sleep," Max said.  
  
"What kind of things, Max?"  
  
"You . . . you grabbed the doctor at the throat once. It took a lot of work to make you loose your grip. He almost died. After that, strange marks appeared in your back. Like claw marks or something. They didn't see your fangs because they sort of disappeared when you were in coma. I also saw that you're nails grew much faster, and they were hard and sort of pointy. The doctors knew you were a mutant and they said it was sort of like a werewolf. You're mutations disappear and reappear."  
  
"A werewolf," Nathan whispered to himself.  
  
There was another long silence, and Nathan knew Max was still looking at him.  
  
"Nate, now when did you learn to steal cars?" he said after a while, and Nathan noticed that he had a smile on his face.  
  
"Acquaintances," he said, looking at the road, now staying in the speed limit.  
  
"And when did you learn to drive? I've never seen you drive before!"  
  
"Max, I'm almost eighteen," Nathan said. "The first thing I did when I was sixteen was get my permit," he said a mocking grin on his face, showing his fangs without dreading of being discovered.  
  
There was a long silence as Max tried to ask him what he was going to do.  
  
"Hey, Nate," he started. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Nathan didn't answer right away, a sad look appearing on his face. It was soon replaced by assurance and conviction.  
  
"I'm going home," he said, to Max's surprise. "I'll pack and head for the city."  
  
"I'm going with you," he said without asking him.  
  
"What?" Nathan said, looking at him as if he was a retarded freak. "Max, you're not a mutant, you have parents who love you and you don't have any problems except for me," he said, looking back at the highway. "Don't leave this place. I'm going to need you to lead the basketball team and to-"  
  
"Nate, I don't want to stay here," he said seriously. "I want some adventure! Nothing ever happened here before you became a mutant. C'mon, I'm not taking no for an answer."  
  
"And you're parents? What are they going to say about you running off with his mutant friend, eh?"  
  
"They've known for months that I wanted to leave this place. It won't surprise them."  
  
Nathan stayed silent.  
  
"Okay, if it's what you want!" he said finally, making Max give a shout of victory.  
  
He turned on the radio, now not caring that they had stolen the car.  
  
Wild, was the way their life wanted to be.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wild. rrrrrriiiiiiggggghhhhtttttt. whatever! Please, come on, review. Oh . . . And read my other stories too, if you want. 


	6. Final departure

Okay, they're finally leaving to go out on their own.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 6: departure  
  
Nathan dropped Max at his house, telling him that he was going to pick him up in two hours. He then went to his house, knowing that his mother was working at the bank at that it was impossible for his father to be there. He parked the car where no one could see it, then walked to the back door. Of course, it was locked but if Nathan could steal a car, it was sure that he could break into his own house. He walked to the side of the house, more precisely near a drainpipe neatly covered with dead vines that would become green in the spring. At thirteen, he had planted metal sticks into the brick, making steps up to the roof. It took him a few minutes to find where exactly he had put them, and when he did, he climbed up, and surely would have made people think of Spiderman. He reached the roof, and nearly slipped of twice because of all the ice. He walked to his window and opened it, knowing that he always left it opened just in case he forgot his house keys. He jumped on his desk, careful not to put snow everywhere. He took off his coat, and searched for his suitcase. When he did, he opened it on his bed, and started filling it with clothes. When he found that he had enough until he could open his Swiss account to go shopping, he started picking other things he wanted to bring with him. The first thing was his laptop and everything that went with it, then his disc man and a few CDs, and science books. He took the pictures of his parents he had, and he had to use his school bag to put the rest of the things he wanted to bring: a remarkable camera that had belonged to his father, his notes on mutants, two other books, his address book with his 'clients' names and addresses, his wallet and his pocket money. He also chose to take a gun with him, knowing that a lot of people were against mutants, and used violent ways to show it to some.  
  
He took his cell phone and called Max's house. His friend picked up after Nate had announced in the answering machine that it was him. His friend wad almost finished packing and had decided to leave a message to his parents on the answering machine. Nathan reminded him to take his passport, and told him that he was going to come over after having written a letter. He found that his writing was a bit too loopy, but it was normal because he had been in coma for three months. He wrote a four page long note for his parents, saying that he loved them even if they didn't feel the same way because he was a mutant, and that he didn't understand their reaction, explaining that he was still their son. It went on and on, until Nathan realized that Max was waiting for him. He left the note on the kitchen table, said good-bye to his dog Pegasus. He came out from the backdoor, and walked to the car he had hid behind the garage. He put his stuff in the trunk, and started the car with the code he had learned from a thief in Montreal.  
  
He drove near the garage, and froze as he saw a police car parked in front of his house.  
  
The policeman was at the door and strangely had the key to enter. Nathan thought that his mother had probably given a double at the police station, not wanting her son to return.  
  
When he was sure the policeman was in the house, he drove silently to the street and zoomed off towards Max's house. His friend was at the door with only a back bag with him. He threw it in the trunk and took the front seat next to his friends.  
  
"Let's get out of here," he said with a smile on his face.  
  
Nathan grinned at his turn and drove off.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
You must be wondering when the X-Men are going to appear, hum? Well, it's coming up soon.  
  
Review? You know, the little purple button under this. 


	7. Accident

I wanted a good guy to get hurt. you might think it's a bit sadistic, but that's the way I am . . . *evil* MUAHAHAHAHAH.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 7:  
  
Their first destination was Toronto. There, they could sell the stolen car, and buy another one with the money. It was their first plan because they were scared to be caught by the police. It was night when they arrived in the big city, and they drove to a club, hiding the car in a backalley. They soon found a black man that was interested in the car, and he gave them his blue Mercedes in stead. The man had an instinct telling him that the car was stolen, but he only wanted to sell it for a higher price, so he could make money.  
  
Nathan and Max stayed in Toronto a few weeks, visiting the museums, art expositions, and buildings. They had a great time every day, walking around as people looked at them thinking that they were skipping school. At night, they hung out in nightclubs and discotheques, dancing the night away with girls their age. Nathan started writing to his clients again, and made more money that they used to buy almost everything they liked. In the end of March, Nate bought magnificent matching bracelet and necklace made of rubies, diamonds and sapphires, and sent it to his mother for her birthday. He was sure that she liked it, but he would never see her wear it.  
  
At the beginning of April, they decided to go down in the states, more precisely to New York. They continued their road in the Mercedes, but after a while, they sold it and bought a very nice BMW. Seeing that Max really wasn't going to abandon him, Nathan decided to talk about his criminal activities, knowing that it was best not to hide things from him. He explained who he helped in exchange of what, how he knew how to steal a car and hack computer systems for him to be unreachable. Max sure was impressed, dumbfounded of knowing that the calm and serious boy he knew from kinder garden had grown into an illicit person.  
  
In New York, they paid good seats to see shows on Broadway, ate hot dogs in Central Park, were treated as V.I.P. in nightclubs and went out with the hottest chicks around. They had so much fun, Nathan even sometimes forgot that he was a mutant.  
  
It was paradise, but there fun couldn't last forever: one night, Nathan had to stay at the hotel to prepare things for his clients, and he had sent Max at the 'Five Elements', a club where they liked to hang out. It was almost one in the morning and Max was at the bar, talking to a black haired beauty when he saw four men dressed in similar black suits, leaning on the wall, looking straight at him. He realized that they were the same men that had talked to Nate's parents when they had found out he was a mutant. The MDF guys. He left the girl who walked away furiously, and took out his cell phone. He tried to look casual, but he knew those men were watching him. He dialed Nate's cell number, discretely keeping an eye on the men.  
  
"Nathan, those guys from the Mutant prison are here!" he said, panicking.  
  
"Don't worry," Nathan said. "You're not a mutant, so they won't take you."  
  
"Nate, there walking towards me," Max said, his voice filled with terror.  
  
Before Nathan could tell him what to do, Max had hung up.  
  
Nathan listened to the beeping of his phone, not knowing what to do.  
  
"They won't hurt him," he was thinking, trying to convince himself. "I'm the mutant, not him."  
  
He waited a few minutes without moving, wondering if staying was the right thing. After a while, a very bad feeling came over him and he rushed to the door, taking his trench-coat on the way. He ran into the lobby and took a taxi, since Max had taken the BMW.  
  
He arrived at the club and passed the line of people that were waiting to enter. The muscular man blocking the entrance nodded and let him in, knowing that he was a regular customer that used a lot of money in the club. His boss had especially told him to let him pass the line.  
  
In the club, Nathan could barely see anything as the flashes of light on the dance floor blinded him for an instant, and the volume of the music was so loud. He walked to the bar and called the bartender.  
  
"Hey, did you see a guy my age here something like fifteen minutes ago?" he asked. "Blond hair, tanned skin, leather vest..."  
  
"Yeah!" the bartender shouted to cover the music. "Two guys took him back over there," he said, pointing at a little hallway.  
  
Nathan walked there, not without turning his head a few times to have a better look at some of the girls. In the hallway, he saw that the first door led to the women's bathroom, and the second to the men's bathroom. He entered it, but Max wasn't there, only a few teenagers sniffing drugs.  
  
He walked back to the hallway and continued to walk in it. The noise was less and less strong and there were fewer people too. He ended in front of a big metal door with the red 'exit' sign above it. He opened it, and saw that he was in a backalley. No one was in sight, so he stepped out.  
  
"Max?" he asked in a loud voice, looking at the trash cans, boxes and other trash and junk. A sound was heard from behind a big dump. Nathan walked slowly to it, and accelerated when he recognized Max's vest on the cement, not too far away.  
  
"Max!" Nathan shouted seeing his friend lying on the wet pavement, blood all over his white shirt and on the side of his head.  
  
"They knew I was you friend," he whispered. "They said they didn't like mutant friends."  
  
Nathan checked his pulse. It was low, but stable. He evaluated the damage they had done to him, and it ended up that he had two broken ribs, a broken wrist, deep marks in his neck showing that they had tried to strangle him and had severely been beaten up. Plus, he was loosing way too much blood to Nathan's liking.  
  
"We got to get you back at the hotel," he told his friend. "I can't hold you completely," he continued. "Lean on me and try to walk a little."  
  
Max raised his hand to his elbow and gripped it tight, pulling himself up by also leaning on the wall. Nathan passed his arm around him and half carried, half pulled him to the street, where the BMW was parked.  
  
"Stay with me buddy," he encouraged him. "Were almost there."  
  
He drove like a maniac up to the hotel, and brought him up to their luxurious suite. He dropped him on the sofa, and ran to the bathroom where he got a wet towel. When he came back, Max was on the floor.  
  
"Hey," Nate said. Putting him back on the sofa.  
  
Nathan took half a step back when he looked at his friend's face again. His eyes were red. Completely red, with only the black pupil in the center.  
  
"Nathan, what's happening?" he said, closing his eyes, in a way Nate knew it was painful.  
  
When he opened his eyes again, they were the normal blue color they had always been. "Nathan, I feel weird," he said whispering again. "I can't breathe anymore. It hurts."  
  
Nathan looked under his friend's shirt and saw the big marks and bruises he had. He needed a doctor, and fast.  
  
Nathan ran to the phone, ready to call the hotel to tell them to bring one, but he just dropped the phone when he looked back at his friend. He was now on the floor again, a few inches from the ground, his eyes closed as if he was in a trance.  
  
"Holy shit," he whispered, walking back to his friend.  
  
He knew no normal doctor who would help a mutant.  
  
He touched his friend, and he moved sideways. It was like he was as light as air.  
  
Suddenly, out of no where, a name came to Nathan's mind like a rush of electric current.  
  
Jean Grey.  
  
Nathan took his eyes off his floating friend and ran to his working table. He pushed aside the files about his instructions from his clients and took a red folder in witch he had gathered all his work on mutants. He opened it, passed the first two packs of paper, and opened the third one. He read quickly, going from page to page and stopped his wandering index on a few words: Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters. Doctor Jean Grey's residence.  
  
A smile formed on his lips as he muttered.  
  
"You'll be fine Max," he said. "She's a doctor who'll help you."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, maybe not fellows! Why say she even *wants* to help you guys? Hun? Euh, she *is*, why am I even saying that? I have to quit on the cranberry juice. It's going to take over me.  
  
Yep. Listen to the little in your head and press on the purple button. If you don't hear the voice, it's not normal, so press the button anyways. 


	8. Transformation of vengance

Yeah. Nathan gets evil . . . he,he . . . ho,ho,ho . . . hi,hi,hi . . . Ha,ha . . . Ah, what the hell: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 8: transformation of vengeance  
  
Nathan turned to see his friend on the floor again. He rushed to him, and saw that he was breathing, but that his pulse was very feeble. His wound was still loosing blood and the white carpet was stained. Nathan rushed to their bags and filled them with their things. When he came back, Max was floating again, but this time, upside-down. He brought him to the ground and pulled off his shoes. He placed in each one a little paperweight he used. It was pretty heavy and that way, Nathan was sure that he wouldn't float around in front of people down in the lobby. He took all the things and ran to the elevator. He ran back in the room and took Max out.  
  
His friend was still wearing the blood-stained white shirt, and was wearing black baggy pants, similar to those Nathan were wearing. He had a black shirt and put on his trench-coat before arriving in the lobby. He placed Max's vest on his friend's shoulders.  
  
It took him a bit of time to get everything in the car and place Max on the backseat, but he finally left, after having paid his stay.  
  
He was good at driving fast, and once again, it was what he had to do. He took out his gun and placed in on the other seat. He knew that the black SUV that was following them belonged to the MDF guys. An uncontrollable rage filled his heart and mind, knowing that the men that had hurt his friend were in that car. Without him knowing, the rage that filled him transformed his appearance. His skin was darker, his hair was not brown but looked more like very dark black, his ears were pointy, and most of all, his eyes were a crazy shade of amethyst. Scars from his accident reappeared on his covered arms and chest, three particular ones running from his neck.  
  
It wasn't Nathan anymore. It was a boy dominated by fiery taste for revenge.  
Nathan's 'second personality' took over him completely, and now controlled his mind and actions. He pressed on the gas pedal a bit harder, and so did the driver of the SUV. A fanged grin appeared on Nathan's face. He burned a light, almost causing an accident, and continued on the wet road. Nathan pulled in a little alley knowing that the other car was going to follow. He took the gun and stopped the car when he was far enough from the road. The other car stopped also, and four men came out.  
  
Nathan opened his door and stepped out of the car, his back to the men.  
  
"You," one of them said. "Mutant. We don't like mutants at all, freak. We told you little friend, but he didn't give you the message too well."  
  
We'll show you what we mean," another one said, walking closer.  
  
Nathan smiled, and turned around slowly.  
  
"You injured my friend," he said menacingly. "You shouldn't, 'cause now I have to settle a few scores. Revenge is sweet in the heart of the savage."  
  
To that, he jumped towards the wall, leaned on it and landed on the SUV's top. "I've always thought actions speak louder than words," Nathan said, now in back of them. "Let me show you."  
  
He jumped off, missing the bullets that zoomed towards him. He high kicked the first man and punched him in the jaw. The second one came behind him and he used a judo move to bring him down. That one now had a broken jaw and a serious pain in the ribs, which were most likely to crack if hit again. The third one tried to shoot at him again, but it only got him to get a broken leg, and right after, a broken neck. The fourth one hadn't moved from his place but ran towards Nathan as he was going to go back to the first one who was getting back on his feet.  
  
Seeing that he was running towards him, Nathan pulled out his gun and shot three times in his chest. The man fell to his knees, gripping his chest, then fell to the floor.  
  
The first and second men, back on their feet, started running to the car and a fanged grin appeared again on his face. He jumped, and landed in front of them one knee and one hand on the ground.  
  
"I'm not done with you two," he said in a sinister way.  
  
One of them took out a gun and shot right at Nathan's chest. A rivulet of blood drained down his black shirt, and stopped after a few seconds. Nathan passed his index in the blood path, and brought it to his lips.  
  
"Tell me you can do better than that," he said, amused in a sadistic way.  
  
The two men looked at each other, terrified. Nathan made a step forward, then another and arrived right in front of the two guys.  
  
Two, long and terrified screams were heard from the back alley, then it was silence.  
  
A hostile silence.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
. *silence*. 


	9. What next?

And he woke up, had a splitting headache, didn't remember anything whatsoever, left Max to rot, forgot he was a mutant, found himself a nice home, had a small family and died at the age of seventy-eight.  
  
WHAT the HELL am I saying!?! Gee, I need help and not form the cranberry juice, thank you.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 9:  
  
Nathan woke up face down on the pavement beside two dead bodies and two other further away. It was now raining softly, and Nathan realized that his trench coat was soaked. He must have been laying there for a while. He checked the dead people and their bodies were cold, proving what he thought. He didn't remember well what had happened, like if it was hidden in his mind in an unreachable place. He only vaguely recalled fighting the men and having received a bullet near the heart. He touched his chest, and felt the hole in his shirt, the line of blood, but no visible mark or wound.  
  
"Strange," He thought, walking back to his car.  
  
He picked up his gun beside one of the bodies and stopped in front of the backseat window. Max was there, not moving. Nathan hurriedly opened the door and checked his pulse. It was still there, but not for long. The blanket he had put on his chest was now saturated in crimson blood. He put another blanket on him and sat in the driver's place, restarting the engine.  
  
He made a U-turn and passed the black car. The time on the radio showed five in the morning. He started speeding again, wanting to reach Westchester as fast as he could. He got lost two times, but finally arrived in front of a large metal gate near witch the words 'Xavier's school for gifted youngsters' were engraved in a black plate. He stopped in front and walked out of the car. Near the gate was a little intercom. He pressed on the red button, and a buzzing noise was heard.  
  
"Yes, can I help you?" a man's voice said.  
  
"I need to speak to Doctor Jean Grey, please," he said. "Does she live here?"  
  
"Yes, she does," the man said. "You can enter."  
  
The gate opened and Nathan was able to drive the car through. He passed a line of trees, seeing how vast the property was. It was spring, but flowers were already blossoming everywhere.  
  
Nathan heard Max whine.  
  
"Where there brother," he said friendly. "Hold on."  
  
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw the huge mansion appear in front of him.  
  
"Wow," he whispered with a whistle.  
  
He parked in front of the door and saw a man with funky red sunglasses on walking towards him. He got out of the vehicle.  
  
"Scott Summers," the man said giving him his hand.  
  
Nathan shook it.  
  
"Nathaniel Cage," he said.  
  
"What's the problem?" Scott asked.  
  
"I need to see Dr. Grey," he said, knowing that he was repeating himself. "My friend's hurt badly, and he needs medical attention. He's a mutant, like me."  
  
"She's on her way," he said. "Let's get him out of the car," he continued, seeing the person in the backseat.  
  
At that moment, a beautiful woman with flaming red hair walked out the front door and marched forwards, followed by a very strong looking man with a cigar in his mouth. The lady smiled at Nathan but the other man just gave him a defiant stare for half a second.  
  
"I'm Jean Grey," she said, before walking to the now open door showing Max still body and the blood covered blanket.  
  
"Scott, get a stretcher," she said to the man with the red glasses. We need to get him to the med lab."  
  
"What happened?" she asked, once he was gone inside.  
  
"Got beat up, became a mutant," Nathan said simply, not wanting to go into details.  
  
The man with the cigar raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's his mutation?" she asked, still leaned over Max's body.  
  
"Sort of floating in air," Nathan said, looking carefully at what she was doing.  
  
Scott came back with a stretcher, accompanied by a white haired, dark skinned beauty.  
  
She smiled at Nathan and helped the man with the cigar and Dr. Grey put his friend on it without hurting him. The stretcher was pushed into the mansion and Nathan was motioned to follow them He would have followed his friend anyway.  
  
Inside, he saw many teenagers his age walking around, talking.  
  
"So this is the school for mutants," he though, following the little group.  
  
They entered an elevator and Nathan felt them going down. It stopped and the door opened, revealing a very clean hallway. They walked down one of the passages and ended in a large medical room. Jean took off Max's shirt and looked at the damage. She frowned.  
  
Scott, the cigar man, the white-haired woman and Nathan walked further away to let her work. Nathan saw her plug him to a machine, install a breathing mask on his nose and mouth and put IV tubes in his arms. After that, she put on a doctor's tunic and passed a curtain around the medical table to block their view.  
  
The three other people walked out after fifteen minutes and proposed Nathan to come, but he preferred staying.  
  
The operation was long, but Nathan didn't budge, his eyes fixed on the shadow moving on the other side of the curtain. An hour and a half later, it was finished.  
  
"He'll be alright," she told Nathan after the operation. "He'll just need a few blood transfusions."  
  
"Thank you," Nathan said gratefully.  
  
"Now come, Professor Xavier would like to meet you," she said, walking to the door, and then to the elevator. Nathan followed her after a last look at Max.  
  
He followed her up to the first floor and entered an office. A bald, friendly looking man sat in a wheelchair on the other side of the large wooden desk where papers, books and folders were neatly placed.  
  
"Hello, Nathan," he said with a smile. "My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I run this school."  
  
"Pleased to meet you," Nathan said politely, offering his hand, which he shook.  
  
A nock was heard on the door and a few people entered the room.  
  
"Ah, everybody, this is Nathaniel Cage," he said to them. "You already now Doctor Jean Grey, and Scott Summers, I presume," he said, showing him the first two persons. "Mr. Summers is also known as Cyclops. He teaches mechanics and mathematics. Ororo Monroe is also known as Storm," the professor continued, indicating the white-haired beauty. "Miss Monroe teaches history and English classes to our students. And this man here is Logan, also called Wolverine, a . . . euh . . . part time resident at the school"  
  
Nathan shook Scott and Ororo's hand, then turned to Logan his hand outstretched. Nate gave him the same defiant stare the Wolverine had given him earlier. A small, interested smirk curved the man's lips lightly and he shook the boy's hand. It was something that left the three other peoples' jaw drop in surprise. The Wolverine was more of the type to stay in his corner without addressing a word to anyone, unless if it was an insult. He wasn't the social type, but he seemed to like the boy. They all sat down.  
  
"Dr. Grey teaches the students how to control their powers," the professor said. "You came here looking for her. Who is your friend and how come you knew where to find Dr. Grey?" he asked, not wanting to use his power to discover.  
  
"My friend's Maxim West," Nathan said, answering his first question. "We come from Ontario. I got into a fight after school at the end of October, and I became a mutant, after that. Max helped be out, and stuff, even if he wasn't a mutant. Afterwards, I got hit by a car and I fell into coma for three months. My parents and the doctors discovered that I was a mutant, and when I woke up, I escaped with Max, because my parents called this mutant facility to come and get me, and of course, I didn't want to go. We had lots of fun and all, but when we were in New York, these guys from the MDF came and beat up Max because he hanged around a mutant. I found him and he sort of started floating a few inches from the ground in the hotel room. I knew Dr. Grey from the anti-mutant registration thing on T.V. I started studying stuff on mutants when I knew I was one and I got this address."  
  
"What's your mutation?" Jean asked to Nathan.  
  
"I . . . I don't really know," he said hesitantly. "Sort of like a werewolf. I mean two different persons with different points of view. The first thing that appeared were my fangs. They disappear and reappear, but I don't know how."  
  
"Nathan," the professor said. "I'm telepathic, and when you entered the school I tried to enter your mind, but I don't understand your two personalities. A part related to those two persons is locked by your mind shields, one is open where you have nothing to hide, and the other is so strongly locked away I don't even think you can tell me about it," he said, interested by the boy's mind.  
  
Nathan stared.  
  
He knew that the 'room' related between his two personalities was filled with information about his criminal life. One of the personalities was himself, how he had always known himself, but the other; he just plain didn't remember anything. It was the person that had killed the four men in the back alley. He didn't want to talk about what he had seen in the back alley, so he shut it away in his mind so that the Professor couldn't reach it either.  
  
"I don't know professor," he said. "What do you think my mutation is?"  
  
"I think that you have the capability of transforming your emotions into another self.  
  
Those characters all have different ways of doing things, and I might even add, maybe all have different capabilities, in terms of mutanisim."  
  
Nathan didn't say anything.  
  
"You can stay here as long as you like Nathan. Dr. Grey might find a way to help you control your mutation, as well as your friend," the professor said. "Scott can show you to your room, as I see that you need a good sleep."  
  
Nathan thanked him, and walked out of the room, followed by Jean, Logan, Ororo and Scott, who walked up the stairs and walked down the hallway.  
  
Nathan ended up sleeping in a single room on the second floor. Scott had settled him there because he wasn't a student, so he couldn't sleep in the dormitories with the other boys. Nathan's bags had been brought up, and Scott left, telling him that he had a class to give. Nathan looked at his watch and read nine a.m.  
  
"What a day," he thought, taking off his wet cloak.  
  
He stretched, looking around the room he had been given. It was simple, but elegant, in an old-fashioned way. Everything was made of wood: the bad frame, the desk and the chair, the closet, the nigh table. It was cozy, and Nate felt at home for the first time since he had left Ontario.  
  
He took off his shoes and socks and dropped into his bed without taking the time of pushing the covers or changing. He fell asleep almost instantly, knowing that he was safe.  
  
Four hours later, Nathan woke up by shouts coming from outside and the dribbling rhythm of a ball. He buried his head under his pillow, trying to block the noise, but it was no use. He pushed the pillow away furiously and jumped to the side of the bed. He walked to the window and opened it fully, looking at the grounds.  
  
Some of the students were playing basketball. The glare in Nathan's eyes was replaced by a mix of sadness, curiosity and interest.  
  
He thought of the team he had led, back in Ontario. They would have played their match against Bloomingdale High a few weeks ago, but without Nate or Max to lead them, they sucked. It was certain that they had lost.  
  
A boy his age passed the ball to a blond boy with a red shirt. He dribbled his way across the court, contouring two of his adversaries, and scored. He was good.  
  
Nathan kept looking at the game, until he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. He looked around the basketball court, to see if anyone was looking at him. Other mutant students were walking around, sitting on stone benches further away, talking or playing cards. Some in the back were using their mutations in friendly fights. He looked under a bunch of trees and a flashing color caught his eye. He saw an Asian girl around seventeen, like him, wearing a bright yellow vest. Even if she was far away, Nathan could clearly see that her eyes were a deep blue, which was strange for an Asian person. She and the girl next to her were giggling, looking straight at him.  
  
He smiled viciously, rolled his eyes and walked back inside. He took his trench coat and put it on as he walked to the exit. He put on his socks and shoes before opening the door, then walked out. He walked down the hallway, crossing many students who stared at him questioningly. He really wasn't the type of student you saw in this school usually, with his blue tipped hair, pierced left ear and clothes that looked to come right out of a Matrix movie. He was lucky his gun wasn't visible, tucked in his pants in his back.  
  
He got to the elevator and pressed the same button Dr. Grey had pushed when they were going to the medical laboratory. When the elevator stopped and the door opened, he was tempted to go look on the other side of the hallway, but remembered Max. He slowly pushed the lab's large metal door and entered.  
  
He quickly realized that no one was there, but he didn't care. He pulled one of the seats up to Max's bed, the chair's legs making an awful noise on the floor. Machines were still plugged to his friend, indicating his blood pressure, pulse, breathing pressure and other things Nathan didn't recall seeing in his hospital room, when he was in coma.  
  
One of the machines showed a sample of Max's blood and Nate saw a globule different than the others, propaging itself slowly. The X-gene.  
  
Fifteen minutes passed and Nathan didn't move from his seat, simply listening to the breathing machine's regular noises. He could see that whatever Jean had done to Max was doing him well.  
  
An hour passed and a change in Max's breathing and heart pulse was heard and seen. Nathan saw his friend open his eyes, staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Maxim!" He shouted with joy.  
  
Max moved his arm slowly and pulled off the mask in front of his nose and mouth. "What the hell happened?" he said looking around the room.  
  
"Max, you're a mutant," Nate said, knowing that the news would please his friend, since it was what he'd always dreamed of.  
  
His friend's eyes brightened and a smile appeared on his lips.  
  
"Really?" He said brightly, getting into an upwards position. "I'm a mutant?"  
  
At that moment, the door opened rather quickly and Dr. Grey appeared in the entrance.  
  
"I see you've wakened, Maxim," she said, walking to the machines to check that everything was okay.  
  
"I'm a mutant?" Max asked again, this time to the doctor.  
  
"Yes you are," she answered, smiling at his joyfulness.  
  
"What do I do?" he asked cautiously, once he was finished his merry expression.  
  
"Flotation in air," Jean said, looking at his blood pressure on the machine. "Maybe even flying."  
  
"Cool!" he exclaimed. "Euh . . . where am I?"  
  
"Xavier's school for gifted youngsters," Nathan answered. "For mutants, actually. I've talked to the dude. He's cool."  
  
Jean almost laughed out loud.  
  
~The dude's cool,~ she said again in her head. Now that was something she'd remember a long time.  
  
"What happened?" Max continued, rubbing his bandaged ribs.  
  
"The beating in the alley," Nathan reminded him. "I'm really sorry Max. I didn't know they'd go this far."  
  
"It's okay, 'cause I didn't either!" Max said, almost cheerfully.  
  
They both laughed.  
  
He talked to Max a bit more, then left him to be inspected by Dr. Grey. He took the elevator, wondering if it was possible for him to have a meal. He arrived on the first floor and made a detour so he wouldn't pass in front of the common room, which would be full of students.  
  
He found the kitchen at the other end, and entered it. He found himself lucky of not having been stopped by other students. He found prepared sandwiches on the counter, and took one. He sat on one of the high chairs next to a little bar next to the window. He ate it slowly, thinking of nothing in particular when he saw a girl his age just walk through the wall, into the room in which he was. He recognized her as the girl that was next to the yellow jacket one outside, staring at him. She had short brown hair that fell lightly to her shoulders, was wearing jeans and a white top on top of which was a light blue vest. She was pretty, he thought.  
  
He must have been looking stunned of seeing her just cross the wall like that because she laughed.  
  
"Hey there," she said friendlily. "Who are you?"  
  
"Nathaniel Cage," he answered. "And what's your name? Or don't angels have names?"  
  
She blushed lightly and smiled honestly.  
  
"Katherine Pryde," she said. "You can call me Kitty. Everyone does."  
  
"You can simply call me Nathan, Nate. Whatever you want," he said, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Only really constipated people call me Nathaniel."  
  
"Ah, Nathaniel there you are," Scott said, entering the room.  
  
To his wonder, the two teenagers in front of him burst out laughing.  
  
"Nathan," Nate corrected him. "Just Nathan."  
  
"Okay, okay." Scott said, still wondering what they were up to. "I see you've met Shadowcat. Have you thought of an alias, by the way?" he asked.  
  
"No," Nate said, taking the last bite of his sandwich. "But I'll think of it."  
  
"Jubilee's looking for you, Kitty," Scott said to her. "She's in the garden."  
  
Kitty, who was leaning on the wall, got up and walked to the wall.  
  
"Nice meeting you . . . Nate," she said with a smile.  
  
Nathan smiled back.  
  
"Bye," he said as she walked out of the room by the wall.  
  
Scott smirked, and Nate turned to him questioningly.  
  
"Well, you've got a way with girls," he said mock all over his face.  
  
Nate smiled arrogantly, without hiding his fangs.  
  
They didn't go unnoticed by Scott.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
review . . . review . . . review . . . review . . . 


	10. Girl's talk

I want the girls to have a crush on Nathan, because he's hot, and smart, and the main character, and without him there wouldn't be a story.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 10: girl's talk  
  
Kitty ran to her two best friends, Jubilee and Rogue, who were sitting on one of the stone benches under a huge willow.  
  
"He is soooo adorable," she said, literally falling on the bench, her two friends looking at her.  
  
"You talked to him?" Jubilee asked, unbelievingly.  
  
"Yes I did," She answered. "Thought I couldn't?"  
  
"I didn't think you'd have the guts," Jubilee said truthfully. "What's he like? I only saw him from the window."  
  
"Talk," Rogue said. "I didn't see him at all, so be precise. Logan just told me he was a decent kid. What did that guy do to get on Logan's good side?"  
  
"Good question," Jubilee said, laughing. "Now, Kitty, talk."  
  
"Well, the first thing that really caught my eye was his eyes," she started dreamingly. "I didn't think it was possible of having them that green. I'm telling you, like . . . really green."  
  
They giggled, then laughed freely at their friend's energized face.  
  
"He has that sort of face you just want to squeeze to death," she continued, grabbing an imaginary head. "He is soooo hot."  
  
"What does he look like?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Brown hair dyed blue at the tips, pierced ear, tanned skin, tall, Canadian I think," Kitty started. "Maybe that's why he got on the Wolverine's good side!"  
  
"That would be stupid!" Jubilee said.  
  
"A smile to die for," Kitty continued.  
  
"What's his name?" Rogue asked, interested.  
  
"Nathaniel, but he told me to call him Nathan or Nate. Never Nathaniel, because he doesn't really like it," she said.  
  
"I have to meet that guy," Jubilee said dreamily.  
  
"He's not a student yet," Rogue said. "He wasn't at the class and that room he was in isn't a dormitory."  
  
"Bobby said that he arrived in that BMW parked in front of the door," Jubilee added. "He had a wounded friend and he's now in the lab in the lower level."  
  
"Do you think he looks like him?" Kitty asked. "I mean, on a hot-guy scale of one to ten?"  
  
"Well the way you describe this 'Nathan', he looks to be twelve on *your* scale," Rogue said, amused as Kitty nodded approvingly. "Who knows?"  
  
"Let's see if we can sneak into the lab," Jubilee proposed mischievously.  
  
The two other girls frowned, but then smiled, indulging the idea.  
  
Without a word, they got up and jogged to the main door. Getting into the elevator was no problem, and getting to the lower levels either, but the tuff part was getting into the lab. Kitty looked through the wall using her power, and saw that Jean wasn't in the room.  
  
"Coast's clear," she said, taking each one of her friends by the arm and pulling them through the wall.  
  
They walked up to where the medical tables where and where they were expecting to see the body of the boy. He wasn't there. Jubilee and Rogue started looking at the medical instruments while Kitty started to look more around the room. She saw a shadow on the floor coming from the opposite corner.  
  
"Hey, girls," she called, walking towards the place where she thought the shadow was being projected.  
  
When she contoured the little wall separating the part of the room, she stopped dead. Jubs and Rogue reached her and stopped also.  
  
Max was there, wearing baggy pants and a red shirt he had taken from his suitcase. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be in a sort of trance. His legs were folded, his arms folded on them in a relaxed posture. He was floating four feet from the ground.  
  
The girls looked at him for a while, wondering what to do. Rogue was ready to go and leave him in peace, but Jubilee wasn't satisfied and wanted to talk to him. She walked a few steps forward, raised her arm and touched his arm with the tip of her fingers. The reaction was instantaneous.  
  
Max opened his eyes with shock, looked at Jubs for an instant and fell to the floor, crashing into the chair under him.  
  
Kitty raced to help him get up, and Jubilee bent down to see if he was okay.  
  
Max shook his head.  
  
"Wow," he said. "That was weird."  
  
"Are you okay?" Kitty asked, concern in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Max said, pushing himself to his feet.  
  
"What was that?" Jubilee asked curiously.  
  
The boy looked at her for an instant.  
  
"Euh . . . I was sort of practicing my power. I float in air, or something like that," Max said, rubbing his head. "I can't get to use my senses when I use it and Miss Grey told me to just practice. She won't let me out," he said, annoyed. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Kitty, she's Jubilee and that's Rogue," Kitty said, introducing her friends. "We heard that you were injured when you got here."  
  
"Gees, news travels fast around this place," he said, looking up at the ceiling. "And yeah . . . I was injured and still am," he said, raising his shirt for them to see the bandage on his ribs.  
  
Kitty and Jubilee were a bit more interested in his muscles.  
  
"You work out?" Jubs said, looking at his muscled abdomen.  
  
"Euh, yeah," he said, reddening lightly, pulling down his shirt. "I did in Ontario."  
  
"You come from there?" Rogue asked, finally saying something. She was more interested in evaluating the boy from the way he behaved with her friends, than to see for herself.  
  
"Yeah. I followed my friend after he escaped those guys from the mutant detention facility. I wasn't a mutant, then."  
  
"And you were still your friend's friend after you discovered that he was a mutant?" Rogue said, visibly interested.  
  
"Of course!" Max said. "He's like my adoptive brother, or something."  
  
"What's your name?" Rogue continued.  
  
"Maxim West," the boy said with a smile.  
  
Jean Grey marched into the room, not very surprised to see the tree girls around Maxim.  
  
She had sensed them with her power.  
  
"Girls, would you care to go back upstairs?" she said with authority.  
  
The three argued in vain and were forced to go away.  
  
The took the elevator and stopped on the first floor, knowing that Jean was using her power, making sure that they were minding their business.  
  
"He's a nice guy," Rogue said as they walked back to the place where they were sitting earlier.  
  
"And good looking," Jubilee added.  
  
"And has a cool power," Kitty added too.  
  
"I didn't get the time to ask him how he had gotten hurt," Rogue said. "I hope he'll stay as a student."  
  
"All mutants who see this place want to stay," Kitty said.  
  
"You're right," Rogue said sighing.  
  
She had had a few boyfriends since she had come here about seven months ago, but none of them lasted very long. They all really liked her, but were embarrassed that they could never touch her. Every time she thought of that, anger towards her mutation grew in her heart. The only boy she'd ever kissed had directly been brought to the hospital. She would give anything to be able to touch someone. Even for just an instant, knowing that she wouldn't harm them. She would be able to walk around without being covered with clothes from head to toes.  
  
Before they could say anything else, a bell was heard from inside, announcing that the English literature class was starting in five minutes. The trio ran back to the entrance and walked to the classroom.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
RrRrRrRrRrEeEeEeEeEeVvVvVvVvVvVIiIiIiIiIiIiEeEeEeEeEeEeEeWwWwWwWwWsSsSsSsSsS sS are WELCOMED.  
  
Well. Would you look at that.  
  
:) 


	11. Thoughts

Little chapter about what Nathan thinks.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 11:  
  
It was already six o'clock when Nathan finished visiting the school. To his little delight, he didn't cross too many students. Somehow, he felt uncomfortable around people when he knew they were mutants. For him, being a mutant was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. It was a curse. It would have been fine if his mutation didn't give him any trouble, like controlling fire like a boy he had seen, or the ability to fly, like Max. He disliked his mutations because he couldn't explain clearly to himself what he could do. He, who had always found a reason, an explanation to anything he found bizarre. It had always been like that with him. If you can't explain it, it doesn't work, it's not real. Like aliens, he thought. There isn't enough proof to really show that they exist, so Nathan didn't believe in them. He didn't like complications.  
  
When his mutation had appeared, all of that changed. He who was always been so secure felt so vulnerable. When he had talked to the professor, all of that had disappeared; what that old man had done to try and protect mutants simply astonished him. but still, a little voice of his mind made him feel in danger, telling him to run, run away from all civilization and stay hidden. That same voice mixed him up, telling him also the right contrary. It told him to go to the humans. To fight and to kill. That voice always made him doubt, made him fear and hate normal humans because they weren't affected, weren't cursed for the rest of their lives, weren't obliged to run from their homes searching for a safe place, a place where no one cared if he was a mutant or not. He felt so defenseless and weak, but at the same time a part of him felt strong, unshakable and wild. That part scared him so he locked it away in his mind. but it was a wrong thing to do because as a wise once said, 'keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer'. That part of him was getting stronger everyday, without Nathan noticing. It was digging through the wall in Nathan's mind, the one through which his sanity was staying.  
  
Days passed and he stayed at the school, wandering in the halls, mostly thinking about what to do next. He died to go into the classrooms with the other students, but then, he remembered that they were all mutants, and so was he. The difference between them was that they accepted it, and that he didn't.  
  
Since his little talk with the professor, when he saw his reflection, a very strange feeling came over him. A werewolf was what he felt like. Two personalities: himself, and that little voice that he hadn't heard since he had woken in the back street, surrounded by dead bodies. The worst was that he knew he was the one that had slaughtered them. Took their life away in an instant of uncontrollability.  
  
When all other mutants considered themselves as unlucky or simply as gifted people, but Nathan, Nathan felt like a monster, being restrained into the cage of his mind.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
And in the next chapter, Nathan goes to a psychiatrist.  
  
. . .  
  
(Hello, it's a joke) 


	12. Trouble

Nathan killed four guys. They're not just going to disappear.  
  
Another little chapter, just to add trouble in my story. trouble is good. heheheh.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 12:  
  
Three days after his arrival, students got used of seeing him wander in the hallways without addressing them. He talked, once and a while, but never hanged around long enough to be called a friend. A bit like Logan, after all. He was always alone, except for the times he went to the med lab to talk to his friend or when Kitty came to talk to him. She was the only person who dared to talk to him.  
  
All the girls liked him and wanted to know him, but when he came around, there was always a strange heaviness in the air making it impossible for them to go walk to him. It was mostly because the sad expression he had on his face most of the time. People had made up stories, guessing why he always looked like that. One of those stories said that anti-mutant people had killed his family and that he was the only one who had escaped the massacre and that he always thought of them, and that it made him sad. A fourteen kid that had just arrived at the school had made that one up.  
  
One Saturday morning, most of the students were in the common room, playing games. Some of them were watching television and Nathan was glad to see that it was on the news.  
  
"A man in his thirties found the four bodies of unidentified men in an alley in the middle of New York. Officials affirm that they had been dead for more than three days, and had been killed by hand. No suspect has been found yet, but many people are assuming that it was the work of a mutant. No other killings have been reported up to date, but the police are still looking."  
  
The image of the alley in which Nathan had woken up appeared, filled with police and reporters. Four body bags were being taken away in an ambulance, where they would be examined for evidence.  
  
Nathan became as white as a sheet and he walked out of the room, Logan, Scott, Ororo and Jean watching him go suspiciously.  
  
"What's up with him?" Cyclops asked.  
  
"The professor warned me not to go in his mind, so I can't answer that," Jean said, crossing her arms. "He said that it was best for now. I don't think so. He's been looking miserable since he got here. I don't get it."  
  
"We should talk to the professor about it," Ororo said. "I feel that boy is hiding something."  
  
Logan didn't say anything, keeping his opinions for himself. for once.  
  
Jean did go talk to Professor Xavier, but he just told her not to mind and to let him be. Jean wasn't convinced and called Nathan up to the medical lab. He was in perfect health, except for the scars on his side that indicated that he had had an accident. Nathan had simply told her that he had been hit by a car, and Jean knew that he was telling the truth. It was just that he wasn't telling everything.  
  
She took a few blood samples and let him go, telling herself that she would plug the analyzing machine during the night and see the results tomorrow morning. She put the machine on and left the room, turning the light off on her way out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Did you know that I think that I can't wait until May to see the X-Men sequel? Yep, I think I'm going to go mad. I want to see Wolvie!!!!! 


	13. Unexpected meeting

I told you I was going to add romance! Here it is . . . well, if you call this little thing romance.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 13: Unexpected meeting  
  
Rogue opened her eyes violently. All she could see was darkness. She moved her arm sideways and hit the little clock on her bedside table. A green light lit the room momentarily and Rogue saw that it was two in the morning. She closed her eyes again, wondering what had woken her when she heard it again. It was so faint no one could hear it but her, with the heightened senses she had gained from getting touched by Logan. Those powers were fading away quickly, but her hearing had stayed very developed. She pushed away the blanket and placed her feet on the cold wooden floor. Jubilee and Kitty, her roommates, were both sleeping like babies, unaware that their friend was up. Rogue kneeled down to the ground and pressed her ear to the parquet. The sound was heard again. Rogue compared it to the sound of a foot hitting a soccer ball repeatedly.  
  
Intrigued, she slipped into her night slippers and put on her bathrobe on top of her nightgown. She opened the door of her dorm noiselessly and walked out, closing the door behind her. She skipped down the hallway, avoiding the wooden planks she knew made sounds, even if they were under the large brown carpet. The stairs were a bit tricky since she had to jump over some steps that creaked, but she finally got to the first floor. She couldn't hear the noise anymore, but there was only one place where it could have come from. The gymnasium.  
  
She got to it easily and looked through the glass window in the door. She was slightly surprised to see the boy named Nathan. He was also in his pajamas and that made her smile.  
  
She pushed the door and entered without him noticing, since he was absorbed by what he was doing. Rogue stayed there, watching him punch the punching bag in front of him, fists clenched, hitting one after the other. She supposed that he had been there quite a while since there was a strain of sweat in his back, making a darker shade of red on his crimson nightshirt. She looked at him for a while, seeing that he had even bigger muscles than Maxim. Now she could confirm what the other girls in the mansion were saying: he was the 'ot' in hot.  
  
After five minutes or so, he noticed Rogue. She would have imagined him looking surprised, shocked, or even embarrassed, but the way he looked at her made her think that he was different than all the other boys in the mansion. He didn't look surprised at all. He just turned his head, saw her and looked back at his punching bag. He didn't hit it again, though.  
  
"You want to use it?" he said, looking back at her, a faint smile on his face this time. She smiled back and walked forwards.  
  
"No, it's okay," she said. "You're pretty good at it."  
  
"Thanks," he said, walking away the punching, to the stand on which were the basketball balls.  
  
He started pressing them, seeing which one was good.  
  
"You play basketball?" she asked, still walking closer.  
  
"I was captain of a team when I was human," he said, pressing on the word human.  
  
She looked down, not knowing what to say. It showed that he didn't want to be a mutant.  
  
"You . . . you hate mutants?" she asked timidly.  
  
He didn't answer immediately, dribbling a ball a couple of times before putting it back on the rack.  
  
"No," he said finally. "I hate being a mutant myself," he said, turning his back to her when he said that.  
  
"What makes it so difficult?" Rogue asked, concerned.  
  
"Never mind," he said vaguely. "What's your name?" he said subtlety changing the subject.  
  
"Rogue," she said, knowing that he was avoiding talking about his mutation.  
  
"Rogue? That's your alias?" he asked dribbling another ball.  
  
"Yeah. I absorb people's memories and powers through physical contact," she said sadly. "Your power can't be worse than mine," she added without knowing.  
  
Nathan stopped dribbling, and stared at her in a way that she felt hypnotized by his green eyes.  
  
"How can you say that?" he asked, his voice proving that he was hurt. "You don't even know what I can do!"  
  
"You're right, I can't," Rogue said, trying to calm him down. "It's just . . . I've never met a person who had a worst power. I mean, I've never touched anyone for more than a year and a half. When I do, I hurt people."  
  
"I . . . I'm sorry if I offended you," Nate said, behaving in the gentleman he was. "It's just very hard for me to control this mutation of mine and I'm scared that it'll take control over me. I hurt people so badly when it takes over, that they never get back up, if you see what I mean. It's normal if you don't understand," he added quickly. "I don't want to bug you with my problems."  
  
"I understand," Rogue said. "I really understand what you mean."  
  
Nathan looked at her, a discrete smile on his face.  
  
"Why do I feel he's checking me out?" Rogue thought, looking away.  
  
"You better go sleep," Nathan said after a while. "I'm sorry I bothered you it's just that I'm a little insomniac these days."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow I hope," she said turning around and walking away. "Good night," Nate through over her shoulder.  
  
"Good night," Rogue replied.  
  
The gym door closed as Rogue walked away. Nathan stared at it for a long while, before continuing to dribble, a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
AWWWW. Now who is Nathan going to choose? Rogue or Kitty? I need to think about this. It needs reflection. 


	14. The voice

Before trouble, something has to announce that there's going to be trouble. Right.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 14: The Voice  
  
Jean woke up the next morning and got dressed. Scott, her husband, was still sleeping in bed when she walked out her room and down the hall, towards the med lab to check on Max. His health had been shaky after the operation but he was getting better and better. She opened the big metal door and turned on the light. Max was in a little room right next to the lab. He slept there and was kept plugged to IV tubes to insure that he had enough vitamins and minerals.  
  
Jean didn't wake him up just yet, knowing that it was just six in the morning.  
  
She walked to the analyzing machine and ripped the paper that was dangling from one side. She put it on the counter without reading it yet, then walked to the other machines to turn them on. What she really wanted right now was a good cup of coffee. She turned on the coffee machine that was in the little kitchen next to the lab with her power, and continued looking at the machines' results about Max's health.  
  
When she had first saw him in the car, she had been afraid that there wasn't anything she could do to save him, but she had been wrong, and she was glad about it.  
  
She heard Max get up from his bed and walk out of his room. She saluted him and he saluted her back, wishing her a good morning. She checked his ribs and told him that he in good enough health to go back up stairs. His face illuminated when she said so.  
  
"Thank you!" he said, half running back to his room to pack his suitcase. Jean helped him bring his things in a room next to Nathan's and then went to the kitchen to see Storm who had definitely woken since the grey sky outside had become cloud-free and a radiant sun shone. Logan was also up, fixing things in the garage. He always went there in the morning.  
  
Jean ate her breakfast with the early-bird students and then went on to other occupations. She had totally forgotten the sheet of paper on the counter in the med lab.  
  
~~~  
  
"Nate, wake up!" Max said, banging on his bedroom door.  
  
Sick of waiting for an answer, he opened the door and walked in. A fain smile appeared on his lips as he recognized his friend's tidiness: everything was clean and well placed.  
  
He noticed that his laptop was on, on his desk and the piles of paper neatly placed on either side. A picture of Nate's parents was on top of one. Absolutely nothing was out of place.  
  
"Nathan, are you there?" he asked, walking around.  
  
No one was in the bathroom and Nate wasn't the kind of guy to hide under the bed, so Max opted for the window. He knew his friend liked solitude in high places and he especially liked rooftops.  
  
He pushed the already open window and peeked outside. Summer was already here.  
  
The trees had already their leaves, the flowers were blossoming, ignoring the very small and dirty patches of snow laying here and there on the grounds, trying to make winter last longer. Max evaluated that it was around twenty degrees outside. He peeked on the side of the window and saw his friend sitting there, holding his knees to his chest. He was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. It looked as if he hadn't slept properly for days.  
  
"What is it, Nate?" he said, stepping over the widow sill, onto the roof.  
  
He walked insecurely on the dew covered roof tiles and sat next to his friend.  
  
Nathan said nothing, almost ignoring his friend, just looking in front of him, playing with his earring with one hand and holding his knees to his chest with the other.  
  
"I hear it," he whispered finally, without looking at Max. "The voice."  
  
"Nate, what voice? What are you talking about?"  
  
"It's stronger," he continued whispering. "It's hard to control but I can, you know. I can be strong."  
  
"Nathan, I think we need to go see the professor," Max said, worried.  
  
"What do I do when it's stronger?" Nate asked to no one. "I didn't want them to hurt you Max. They came back, and then, it was much stronger than me. The voice. I don't want to let it win again. I don't want to accept it."  
  
"Okay, now we're really going to see the professor," Max said, getting up.  
  
"Max?" Nate asked, with a normal tone. "Do you fly yet?"  
  
Max looked at him, wondering where the conversation was going.  
  
"No, not yet," he said.  
  
"We'll have to find you a nice alias, you know," Nate continued. "Do you have any ideas?"  
  
"I was thinking something like cloud or wind," Max said, sitting back down. "And you?"  
  
"Me?" Nate asked, still not looking at his friend. "I . . . I'm a werewolf."  
  
"Werewolf? That's nice," Max said. "I'll call you Wolf, for short."  
  
Nathan smiled sadly.  
  
"Sure," he said. "That's my name. That's what I am."  
  
"Nathan, are you sure you're okay?" Max asked, uncertain. "You've looked awful since we've arrived here. What is it?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing," Nathan said, looking away. "What do you think of this place?"  
  
"Nathan, you're changing the subject again. Tell me why you're like this. Talk to me! We always used to talk."  
  
Nathan shook his head.  
  
"No. I don't want to talk about it. The voice is going to change my mind."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Max said furiously as he jumped back to the window and inside Nathan's room.  
  
Nathan took his eyes off the sky in front of him and looked down at the window. His eyes glowed a dark color of amethyst and his hair seemed darker for half a second. A faint smile curved his lips, showing a particularly pointy fang. Less than a minute later, Nate was himself again, a sad look on his face as he looked back at the sky.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nathan's going mad!!!! Review, come on, I want to know what you think of that! I need reviews to send in the next chapter!!!! He, he.  
  
For the people who reviewed, thank you very much. I'm sorry for the paragraph thing that went beserk, its because I had compressed by writing before sending it. Sorry. 


	15. decisions

Ahhhhh . . . I've cut loose on the cranberry juice. I'm feeling better and I just wrote this chapter, to . . . euh . . . well to continue the story.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 15: decisions  
  
Using his power, the professor called his older X-Men to his office. He had to tell them something important that had happened a few days ago, that the authorities had kept under a low profile.  
  
Jean and Ororo were sitting in the two armchairs in front of his desk, and Logan and Scott were standing up behind them, waiting to hear what the professor had to say. Xavier sighed deeply and shook his head.  
  
"I've just heard terrible news," he started. "It seems that Magneto has escaped his plastic prison."  
  
Jean leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her, Logan cursed, Ororo sighed loudly and Scott just snarled, his visor glowing bright red.  
  
"Mystique found a way to get in?" Jean asked, wanting to know exactly what had happened.  
  
"Yes," the Professor said. "She killed a guard and took his appearance to get past security. It seems that they have new followers. Three to be exact. There's nothing we can do, since they have all completely disappeared. My theory says that they're probably in New York, but I could be wrong. He could be anywhere in the states by now."  
  
"So all we can do is wait until we have clues or traces?" Scott asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes, it's all we can do," the professor answered.  
  
~~~  
  
Max ran to his room, got dressed as fast as he could, combed his hair, brushed his teeth and stormed out in the hallway. He ran to the first floor, asked a boy his age for directions and finally found Professor Xavier's office. He knocked on the door and waited for a response, that he got a few moments later, as Ororo opened the door to let him in.  
  
He started fidgeting in front of the professor's desk, playing with the rim of his long sleeved shirt.  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, professor," he said politely.  
  
"I don't mind at all, Maxim," he said, the same forthcoming smile on his face. "Please, take a seat."  
  
Max sat down, half ignoring Scott, Ororo, Logan and Jean sitting farther in the back.  
  
"I . . . I was wondering if you've noticed Nathan's attitude," he started, still playing with the rim of his sleeve.  
  
The professor nodded, and he continued.  
  
"He's really not like that normally . . . It started since we've arrived here, and I've talked to him this morning and I think he's going nuts," Max said frankly. "He keeps talking about a voice changing his mind or something like that. He says that the voice is talking to him and other weird stuff. Do you think you could sort of help him?"  
  
"I think I made a terrible mistake," the professor said, looking down. "Scott, can you bring Nathan to me? I think you'll find him on the roof."  
  
Scott rose and walked out.  
  
"What exactly did Nathan say about this voice?" The Professor asked to Maxim.  
  
"He said that it changed his ideas and mixed him up by telling him other ideas. He said something about it getting stronger and hard to control. He said that the voice won over him when I was hurt and that those men were coming. He said that he didn't want to let it win again and that he had to be strong. What does it mean?"  
  
The Professor stayed silent, knowing that Logan, Jean and Ororo also wanted to know.  
  
"I don't know exactly what Nathan's power is," he said finally. "But this 'power' seems to have a mind of it's own and to take over him by his emotions, mostly anger. Before he got here, he locked this 'other mind' away, but it is getting stronger and will take over Nathan's mind if we don't stop it. I'm afraid this other self of him isn't very sociable and is much more dangerous."  
  
"How can Nathan's power be stronger than his will to dominate it?" Jean asked.  
  
"Because of two things: One is that he hates being a mutant himself, so his body rejects his mutation. Second, a part of his mind has been absorbing everything negative he has met to date since his birth. Absolutely everything that made him mad is stocked in that second self of him. His mind shield was surrounding this second mind and I didn't want to break in it when I first met him, but I should have."  
  
He paused, thinking.  
  
"Jean, I'll need you to go in his mind and to tell me what you see. I'll try to control this second mind while you go see," he said after a while. "Ororo, I need you and Scott to try and keep him calm if he gets angry, nervous or scared. This second self could take over and I don't want to think of what will happen next. Maxim, I think it would be better if you didn't go telling people about this."  
  
Maxim nodded vigorously, fully understanding.  
  
"But what if this 'second self' takes over?" Ororo asked.  
  
"Well, Logan will try to use the tranquilizer gun, and if it doesn't work, he'll have to knock him out."  
  
Logan grinned sarcastically.  
  
"And don't be too harsh," the professor told him. "He's only a boy, after all."  
  
"I wont hurt the kid, Chuck," Logan said.  
  
"Good," the professor said. "Now, let's go to the medical lab," he said, manoeuvring his wheelchair out of his office. He was followed by the others.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo. next chapter is one of my favourites!!!!!!! (Because there's trouble *niark, niark, niark*) Review, tell me what you think, what you would like to happen. Next chapter is already written, but you can give me ideas for the rest. 


	16. Trouble again

I hope you like this chapter, because I do . . . think trouble.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 16:  
  
They took the elevator and descended to the lower levels. They walked into the medical lab and Logan pulled one of the medical beds in the middle of the room for Jean and the professor. Jean had suggested the table with security straps but the Professor had explained that it would make him nervous.  
  
About five minutes later, Scott entered, following closely Nathan. The boy was wearing baggy jeans, a black shirt and had his trench coat on. He looked as tiered as ever and pulled himself slowly into the med lab. His eyes widened and he stopped as he saw the people around the medical table.  
  
"Don't worry Nathan," the professor said. "We're not going to harm you."  
  
Nathan backed up one step but met Scott blocking his way. Now he was really uneasy.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked in a shaky voice, combating the tiredness.  
  
"We're here to help you Nathan," Jean said. "We want to try and take that voice in your head away."  
  
Nathan relaxed for a moment, but it quickly disappeared under a weight of fear.  
  
"No! It's going to get me!" he said with fear. "I'm not aloud to let it win."  
  
"What's the point of fighting against it?" the professor said. "We just want to tell it not to fight you."  
  
Nathan looked very tense, but walked forward.  
  
"Just lay on that table," Jean said. "We're going to go in your mind to see what's going on with that voice."  
  
Nathan nodded and sat on the table, looking at the professor in the eyes before he did so.  
  
"Just stay calm," Jean said as she settled into a chair near his head.  
  
The professor was in front of her, and he gave her the signal. They entered Nathan's mind, Jean on his sanity's side, the professor on the voice's side. She could hear the professor talking to Nathan's second self.  
  
She 'walked' to the wall contouring the box in which Nathan's secrets were hidden. Her mind pushed against it, but it didn't budge. She had to repeat it many times before his strong mental shields started to fail him. She could see through it, see photographs of people, his clients. There were papers everywhere, student awards from school, books, many books about science. His thoughts were based on logic. Everything had to be logical for him, that's why he didn't accept being a mutant. She searched in that part of his mind, finding memories of his life. His parents, the basketball team he led to victory at every match, his training at the dojo, the fight that had triggered his mutation. All was there. She looked on one of the sides of his mental 'box' and saw a door, leading to his second self. She walked to it, tried to turn the handle, but it was burning. She used her mental force to open it, and when she did, the wall around his mind disappeared. She saw Nathan's second self, a cold blooded killer, revengeful, protective, angry and the hate towards humanity that built his strength. All was black on this side of his mind. Fire and blood everywhere. The professor was there, talking to him. This second self was listening, until Jean entered his side. An earthquake in Nathan's mind built up as an evil smile spread on his lips.  
  
Jean and the professor were forced out of his mind.  
  
"Oh, dear," the professor exclaimed. "Logan the tranquilizer gun! Use it!"  
  
Logan took the weapon and directed it at Nathan's arm. He was about to shoot when suddenly Nathan jumped off the table faster than you can blink. His movement pushed the table backwards, making an awful noise on the tiled floor. The sedative dart zoomed into the table.  
  
Scott brought his hand to his visor and set it to the most minimal force, to wanting to hurt Nathan too much. The blast he could give would only throw him to the ground. He turned to Nate who was on his left and was going to shoot, but he was taken aback by the boy's sudden change of appearance.  
  
His hair was lightly longer and almost jet black. The blue tips were that way more pronounced. His pointy ears gave him excellent hearing. His skin was more tanned and scars appeared on it. All of them were astonished to see a particularly long scar forming in his neck. It was like seeing Logan with his healing power, except the other way around. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them, they were that crazy shade of amethyst again. He made an upside down somersault towards Scott, but instead of hitting him with his feet in the chest like Cyclops expected, he crumpled himself to the grown on his hands and on one knee and passed his other leg under him, making him fall backwards. Before Scott even touched the ground, Nathan had jumped from his place and was now on the lab's counter, behind Storm. She turned around, her eyes filled with panic.  
  
Nathan was still on his hands and one knee. He growled towards Ororo, but it was directed for Logan, who was two meters away behind her. His fangs were showing clearly now. He pounced passing above Storm but was stopped in mid air by Jean. He was hard to control because he kept moving, but she was doing the best she could.  
  
"Don't let him move!" the professor shouted.  
  
Jean was leaning against the wall, trying to immobilize him completely but it was too hard. The boy stirred madly and at one point, he was holding his left forearm towards Jean and the professor. They saw his skin tear at the wrist as a pointy metal object came out of his skin. Jean defined it as a dagger, like the ones used by ninjas, except that this one was slightly longer and the handle was decorated with precious stones and designs. The weapon got into his hand and was thrown towards Jean.  
  
She screamed and ducked as the dagger logged itself in the wall on which she was leaning. It broke her concentration and Nathan was free of movement as he fell to the ground.  
  
"Stop, Nathan," he heard the voice of the professor say in his mind. "We're your friends."  
  
Nathan was now between Storm and Logan. He went to jump over Logan but he was caught by the ankle. He landed on the floor with a thud and high kicked Logan in the face. He staged back and Nate took this opportunity to get up by pushing himself on the ground. He turned sideways and kicked him in the ribs. Logan growled and unsheathed his claws, trying to scare the boy so he could become 'normal' again.  
  
Nathan just smiled evilly at the sight of his claws. He raised his forearms and this time on both hands, two daggers, bigger than the other, came out of his wrists. The scar from where the weapons appeared just closed by themselves without any blood coming out of the wounds.  
  
"Two can play at that game," he said mischievously.  
  
Logan glared and snarled.  
  
Before Logan could step back, Nathan had raised his swords, moved sideways and had left the swords in their parallel positions. That way, the swords were coming towards Logan from the front, but Nathan was on his right.  
  
Logan blocked the swords with his claws, but he received a hit in the middle of the back, by Nathan's foot. Nathan kicked again, but this time behind his knees and Logan fell to the floor with a loud thud.  
  
Cyclops was back on his feet and shot towards Nathan. The boy bent down quickly as the beam grazed his side. Nathan turned to Jean and glanced at her a certain way. Jean fell to her knees with a sigh of pain, causing Scott to look towards her. It gave the opportunity to Nathan to do something. He raised his hand, palm forwards towards Scott and the man just had the time to close his eyes as his visor was swept off his face.  
  
It fell to the floor with a little metallic noise. Nathan looked towards Storm, but she couldn't use her power inside. All she could do was control the air streams, and it was exactly what she was doing, trying to restrain Nathan. She couldn't make the wind blow higher than a breeze because she would break some of the very expensive medical machinery they had in the room. Nathan didn't fight her.  
  
He turned to the professor and said something that no one but him understood. "Every man is the architect of his own fate, but what can you expect from a wolf but a howl? What is bred in the bone comes out in the flesh," he said waywardly. "It's not good to play with fire and neither to judge a book by its cover."  
  
At that he jumped towards the exit.  
  
Logan and Scott started running after him.  
  
One the first floor, students were worried to see the boy run for the exit, followed by Logan and Scott. Bobby and John tried to catch him too but he was too fast. In the garden, he stopped for half a second in front of Rogue and Kitty who just stared jaw dropped at him. He smiled, and continued his way, running towards the trees and high brick wall that marked the border of the propriety. Scott, Logan, Bobby and John arrived, but it was too late, Nathan was gone, trapped by his emotions into the savageness of his anger and hate.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hey, that was pretty good! (I have a very high opinion of myself right now) I think I could have made them fight a bit longer and 'put more cuts and bruises', but it's because I want them to go after him and fight him somewhere else, so that Storm and others can fight too.  
  
Did you like it? Tell me, by pressing the little 'review' button.  
  
Now I need some time to really plan the next chapter. I have to choose if Nate's going to go hide in New York, and if he'll have contacts there, or something. I also need to make him fight his 'inner self' . . . or something. Ideas are all welcomed! 


	17. At the docks

Chapter 17:  
  
All they could do was go back inside as night came Logan and Scott walked back to the med lab that was in pitiful state. Ororo was a bit shaken, and was helping Jean to get up. Cyclops joined her.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked to his fiancé.  
  
She nodded quickly and brought her hand to her forehead.  
  
"What did he do to her?" Scott asked to the professor.  
  
"I don't exactly know, but I think he borrowed her mutation to distract you from him, and then use her mutation to get rid of your visor," the Professor said.  
  
"How can he 'borrow' a mutation?" Scott said skeptically.  
  
"Maybe it's a facet of his mutation. When in need, he can steal mutations for a short period of time. If he uses it too much on the same person, he could get the mutation permanently, but that's another story."  
  
"What did he mean when he talked to you before going?" Logan asked.  
  
"When I tried to convince him in Nathan's head, I saw that he was a great fighter, master in many forms of martial arts and sword fighting. When he's angry or afraid, he uses those abilities. He's smart. He knew I was trying to convince him and he knew I wouldn't succeed. He knew that I was risking Nathan's sanity by entering his mind and coming to him like that. I didn't know his other self would be so strong. Nathan was so weak these past days I thought he would be too."  
  
"What are the daggers about?" Jean asked, pulling out the one that was in the wall.  
  
She looked at it for a moment, turning it to the light.  
  
"Don't touch it Jean," the professor said, seeing what she was doing.  
  
Jean turned to him for an explanation and before she had time to react, and drop the object, it started melting away into thin air. Quickly, Scott used his beam to throw it out of Jean's hand before it burned her. The rest of the sword lay on the floor, and burned away.  
  
"Okay," they all heard Storm whisper, wondering. "So what was that power about?"  
  
"That, I have absolutely no idea," the Professor said. "but what you don't understand is that it depends in what mood he's in to use that mutation . . . well, that's what I think it is."  
  
Maxim stormed into the room.  
  
"Where's Nathan?" he shouted in a heated tone.  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"He couldn't control his mutation anymore and his emotions transformed him into another self. He ran away but we'll find him," Logan said.  
  
"We'll need your help," the Professor added. "He's heading for New York and we need to find him before his anger towards humanity pushes him to . . . do things."  
  
Max went livid.  
  
"You think he could kill people?" he asked, now that his anger had passed.  
  
"He already has, Maxim," the Professor simply said. "Will you help us?"  
  
"Y . . . yes," Maxim mumbled.  
  
"We'll take the jet to get there faster," Scott said. "Jean, call the younger X-Men with your power."  
  
Jean concentrated for a moment, closing her eyes.  
  
"There coming," she said after a while.  
  
"Excuse me, but what's an X-Man?" Max asked.  
  
Jean smiled and explained everything to him, about what they did and all.  
  
"You don't control your power yet, so we'll only give you a suit because we need you," she said. "Don't try to use your power if it gets nasty."  
  
Max accepted everything and joined the team.  
  
~~~  
  
Max was impressed by the jet. He would have never suspected one to be hidden in the school. He saw that what they called the 'younger X-Men', were students his age. The three girls that had come to visit him were there, and there were two other boys, Bobby and John. "Now, from now on we call ourselves by our aliases until we get back," Scott said with authority. "Max, this is Shadowcat (Kitty), Jubilee, Rogue, Iceman (Bobby) and Pyro (John). For tonight you'll be called Rocket."  
  
Max put on his suit with the others and entered the jet. He sat in the back, next to Pyro, in front of Rogue and Jubilee, with Kitty to his right. The older X-Men were more in front. Scott was driving and Storm was the co- pilot. Logan was behind Storm and Jean was behind Scott, because she would use her power to try and locate Nathan.  
  
Using Cerebro, the Professor had told them that Nathan was going for the docks. They arrived there relatively fast, and landed on a flat warehouse roof as soon as they saw no one was near.  
  
"Okay, now I want groups of two," Cyclops said. "Wolverine with Rogue, Iceman and Jean, Shadowcat and Storm, Jubilee and Pyro, me and Rocket."  
  
Cyclops explained to everyone what his plan was, and they all split up, ordered to report if they saw Nate.  
  
~~~  
  
Logan and Rogue went looking towards the water.  
  
"So, Marie," Logan started. "You like this guy?"  
  
Rogue went a dark shade of red, but tried to hide it, to Logan's amusement.  
  
"Yeah. . . He's nice," Rogue said, lightly embarrassed. "What do you think of him?"  
  
"I find he's okay," Logan said. "He's one of the rare kids in the school that doesn't avoid me."  
  
Rogue sniggered, looking around a pile of fish-smelling crates.  
  
"How does Cyke expect catching Nate?" She asked, walking beside the water. "If he was strong enough to fight you, Cyclops, Jean, Storm and the Pro-"  
  
"It wasn't exactly that, kid," Logan said, trying to avoid talking about that fight that had lightly embarrassed him and the others. "Nathan's a strong mutant, and he can be dangerous. Scooter wasn't even sure of separating everyone."  
  
"Hey, he doesn't even control his power fully, and we're ten trained mutants. It's not like he has a great advantage," Rogue said as she kept looking around the docks. Suddenly, she stopped, sensing that Logan wasn't following her anymore. She turned around and saw him sniffing the air.  
  
"Somethin's not right," he said, sniffing again. "Rogue, we need to get back to the others. Now."  
  
"What is it?" Rogue asked, just a little panic in her voice as she realized how hostile the place looked when you saw it a certain way.  
  
"Come here," Logan said, sniffing again. "I smell. . . things. Wait. . . this smell . . . it's familiar. . . Rogue, we're not alone. . ."  
  
Rogue reached him, now really uncertain. A shadow appeared on the cemented floor, right next to their forms. Logan unsheathed his claws as he and Rogue looked up at the roof of the nearest warehouse. The shadow disappeared.  
  
"It's not Nathan," Logan said. "We're definitely not alone."  
  
He pulled Rogue's arm as they walked away quickly.  
  
"We need to find Scooter and the others," Wolverine continued. "It feels like a trap . . . or something."  
  
~~~  
  
In the meantime, on the other side of the docks. . .  
  
"I'm telling you Jean," Bobby said for the fifth time. "It's the egg that came before the chicken."  
  
Jean sighed noisily but smiled, not sensing anyone nearby.  
  
"Fine, have it your way, snow-man," she said.  
  
"It's Iceman to you," he said, visibly not looking around for Nathan too much. "Why couldn't you and the Professor control Nathan?"  
  
Jean paused, and looked at the teenage who had asked her the question.  
  
"Because. . . He was too strong," she said.  
  
Bobby shook his head negatively.  
  
"No, it's because he was prepared and already knew things. It's like if he planed everything," Bobby said.  
  
Jean thought about what he had just said and her eyes grew bigger.  
  
"Of course!" She shouted. "Ice, you're a genius!"  
  
Iceman just looked at her, puzzled.  
  
"If we want to catch him, it has to be a way in which he wasn't planned anything!" Jean said. "But. . . Bobby? It's. . . Bobby! He dragged us out here! He knew we were going to follow him!"  
  
"Okay, now we're in trouble," Iceman said. "We need to warn the others. Use your power, Jean."  
  
Jean concentrated, but her eyes widened again.  
  
"I. . . It's not working!" she exclaimed. "What the hell is happening?"  
  
Bobby aimed his hand to a crate, waited a few seconds.  
  
"My power's not working either!" he shouted in surprise.  
  
"Quick, we need to find the others," Jean said. "I don't like what's happening."  
  
~~~  
  
On another side of the docks . . .  
  
Storm kept a look out as Kitty walked through one of the warehouses' walls.  
  
"Nothin' in there," she said, walking back through.  
  
Storm sighed noisily and walked away to the next warehouse, forming a long trail of mist behind her.  
  
"I wonder why he came here," she said. "Of all places, why here?"  
  
Shadowcat walked to her, and sat on one of the nearby crates.  
  
"Look!" she said, after a while. "There's Jubilee."  
  
Storm turned towards the direction Kitty was indicated and saw Jubilee walking towards them, looking furious. She reached them and looked up in the air.  
  
"Why am I always paired with that idiot?" she exclaimed.  
  
"Where is he?" Kitty asked, seeing that John wasn't following behind her friend.  
  
"We were looking around over there, and then we see this shadow turn a corner, and so I'm ready to contact Scott or Jean, when this retard and I hear this big crashing noise around the corner. He runs around to go see what happened, I don't move just yet. I waited a couple of seconds, then I look around the corner, and I see no one. I walk around, but Pyro's just gone. I have no idea where he is."  
  
"Oh, no," Storm whispered. "Come, we'll go find the others."  
  
They walked down one of the isles, passing many warehouses, when they nearly bumped into Logan and Rogue.  
  
"We gotta get back together," the Wolverine said, finally letting go of Rogue's arm.  
  
"Where's Pyro?" Rogue asked, seeing that John wasn't there.  
  
"He's somewhere out there," Jubilee said, vaguely pointing behind them. "Alone."  
  
Logan cursed, and they all looked at him.  
  
"Don't you smell that?" he said, sniffing.  
  
"Yeah, its smells fishy," Jubilee said, her eyes narrowing, being serious.  
  
They smiled, seeing the Wolverine trying to abstain himself of loosing his cool.  
  
"Not that," he growled, as they all tried to smell something.  
  
"I know that smell . . ." Storm said. "It's . . ."  
  
She looked at Logan wide eyed.  
  
"Gasoline!" Kitty said looking around.  
  
"Someone's spreading that stuff around the whole damn place," Logan said, sniffing again, starting to walk in the opposite direction.  
  
"Why would Nathan want to harm us all?" Jubilee said, trying to keep up with the Wolverine's steps.  
  
"It's not Nathan," Logan said. "Well, I don't think so."  
  
After a few minutes of walking around, they stopped near the water. Storm leaned against the wall.  
  
"I'll create rain, so when this person starts the fire, it wont be as bad, and maybe we will be able to control it," she said, her eyes turning silvery white. They watched, expecting to see clouds cover op the sky.  
  
Nothing Happened.  
  
"It's not working!" she said, confused.  
  
They heard footsteps and saw Jean and Iceman appear around the corner.  
  
"Our power's don't work!" the teenager exclaimed.  
  
Soon, they realized that none of their powers worked.  
  
"Have we lost our mutations?" Rogue exclaimed happily, carefully, she touched Bobby's hand, and nothing happened. A yell of joy was heard as she jumped to his neck.  
  
"I can touch you! I can touch you!" she shouted, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. She jumped from one person to another, holding each of them in a tight embrace.  
  
"Jean?" Logan asked, seriously trying to stay calm as she turned to face him. "It there a fu**ing explanation for this?"  
  
"Sorry, I don't have it," she said grumpily. "This isn't logical."  
  
They waited where they were a couple of minutes, just watching Rogue jump from one person to another. Logan started walking around, and stopped near the next warehouse. Jean walked to him and looked at where he was looking. The others quickly joined them when they heard Jean shout.  
  
"Nathan!" she said, one fist in the air. "Come down here this instant!"  
  
They all saw two legs dangling from the side of the warehouse's roof. Jean was about to shout something again, when Logan placed his hand in front of her mouth.  
  
"It's not the kid," he said, silently walking to the legs.  
  
He placed himself just under them, and pulled. A black from fell to the ground with a large thud. The X-Men quickly surrounded it, ready for anything, but it didn't move.  
  
Jean leaned towards it, and turned it around to see his face. It turned out that the person looked like a knocked-out policeman. There was a rivulet of blood running down the side of his temple, and he was breathing steadily. It looked like he had been drugged.  
  
"He won't be waking up soon," Jean said. "But he'll be okay."  
  
A long yell was heard and they all got up and placed themselves in a fighting position, ready to be attacked.  
  
Logan unsheathed his claws, yelled and cursed as his healing ability didn't work and left the three marks between his knuckles start bleeding as Logan shook his hands in pain.  
  
"We're in no condition to fight," Storm said, knowing that someone had to be the voice of reason. "We don't have our powers."  
  
A second yell was heard, and this time they all recognized who had shouted.  
  
"Looks like Scooter's in trouble," Logan said, forgetting the pain in his hands for a half a second.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That was a little complicated chapter. Nathan's going to fight himself, and the next chap is going to be even more complicated. I hope I don't mess up the next chapter. What I want to happen is a little difficult to explain and even more to write.  
  
(And I'll try and clear out the thing about Nathan's mutation. It's a bit hard to explain what it is.) 


	18. A hostile conscience

Okay, people. This is 'lucky' chapter 18. Just for you to know, this chapter was a real pain in the ass. I was asked to do a sort of matrix one- on-one fight thing, and I spent a very, very, very long time trying to figure out WHAT that was supposed to mean. Slowly, well, very very slowly, I got ideas based on the matrix movie, and then I mixed them up with an X- Men point of view, and in result, I got this chapter.  
  
For the fighting, I like putting all the description and all, but still, tell me if it's a little weird. For those who want to know, all the fighting is based from the matrix movie, a big part from the section where Neo fights Morpheus 'for fun' in the stimulation program thingy.  
  
And for Wildwolvie, THANK YOU for your suggestion. :)  
  
When I did the chapter when he fought with the daggers, I just put them in there because I liked the idea, but it made me spend, like, a lot of time trying to figure out what I could make his mutation be. Now that was stupid, but I finally figured it all out . . . Sort of . . .  
  
I don't know if this chapter will be what you would have expected it to be, and I don't know if you'll find it that super great, but still, I have hope that you will like it. *Cross my fingers, get on me knees and pray*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 18:  
  
Very slowly, Nathan was able to open his eyes.  
  
All he could see was darkness and all he could feel was a freezing chilliness in his whole body. His eyes adjusted to the dark and gradually, his senses were revived. He moved his hands, feeling that he was lying on a cold, wet and hard surface. He looked up, and saw that he was lying on the pavement, in the middle of an alley, between two big buildings that looked like warehouses. He immediately recognized the place as a dock of some sort. He got to his feet, feeling extremely heavy, as if he had been given drugs. He wobbled up to the nearest wall and leaned on it, not being able to support his weight very well. His head was turning, and he couldn't make out anything further than the building he was leaning on. Suddenly, he jolted forwards, a strange nervousness taking over him. How had he got here?  
  
He thought of the school, remembered being on the roof, Scott coming to get him, arriving in the med lab, sitting on the table, but after that, it was just a blur. He panicked.  
  
The fist possible reason of his being there was that 'The voice' had taken over him again. The thought of that part of himself made him shiver as he rubbed his eyes, trying to regain focus. Once he had, he started walking down the alley. He turned many corners and walked through many paths but strangely, he didn't seem to get very far.  
  
After a while, he arrived near the water, and sat near a boat, feeling dizzy again. A harsh laugh brought him back to his senses.  
  
His eyes closed, he felt something change again, as if the air was sucking him in.  
  
He opened his eyes and nearly yelled in surprise. He wasn't at the docks anymore.  
  
He was in his very mind.  
  
~  
  
All was black, except for a faint glow in front of him. Uncertainly, he made a step forward, and jumped as all his surroundings changed, as if his pace had made him walk much further than the length of his step. He was now surrounded by the light he had seen, so far away before, and now so close. He could see that this glow was in fact some sort of a fireplace, in which he could see, a fire, but no ordinary combustion. It was as if his thoughts were reflected in those flames. He could see Max, the Professor, Logan, and many other people from the school. It was the people he considered as his family. Suddenly, the fire changed, and the image of his mother and father appeared. Unexpectedly, he felt all confused, wondering who he should call his family.  
  
"Choices build the path of your life," a cold voice said behind him, sending a shiver down his spine.  
  
Nathan turned around and his jaw dropped as he saw . . . himself. This self of his was walking towards him, smiling in an unkind way. He had the same build, the same face, but something was just plain different. There was something . . . abnormal about this 'self' of his. This self was like him when the voice took over him.  
  
"Yes, I'm the one who's been talking to you," this 'self' said, smiling wickedly.  
  
Nathan frowned.  
  
"You're the voice in my head!" he exclaimed.  
  
The character smiled weakly.  
  
"I'm your conscience," this person said.  
  
Nathan looked at this self, wanting to know more.  
  
"I'm the one who shows you your options, and lets you decide what you want. I'm your sense of right and wrong, your principles, I, Nathan, am you."  
  
Nathan blinked and looked at this 'self' of his with what maybe some people would have described as fear.  
  
~So who am I?~ he thought.  
  
"You," the 'self' said, as if he could read his mind. "Are a sense, contradicting mine. I, am not just your conscience, I am also your contrary."  
  
Nathan turned to face him fully, ignoring the fire.  
  
"I say no, you say yes, I say right, you say wrong," the self continued. "Like this, I make you choose what you want, but now, you are refusing to say 'yes', when I say 'no'."  
  
Nathan made a little step forward, visibly interested.  
  
"For the first time, you don't know what to do, you don't know what to choose," the self continued.  
  
The self made a movement towards the fire and Nathan looked in it. In the flames, he could see himself, when he was in coma, then his getaway and writing his letter to his parents.  
  
"The truth is that I always wanted you to become a mutant," the conscience said. "I told you that you were going to be it, and that you were going to accept it, but you, said no."  
  
The conscience paused, visibly enjoying seeing Nathan question his own thoughts.  
  
"You are bringing in your own destruction, by not accepting the facts," the self continued. "You don't accept that your parents don't like you anymore, you don't accept things that don't need logic to understand, you don't accept . . . that you are what, and who, you are."  
  
Nathan tried to speak, to object, but no words came out.  
  
"I, Nathan, want you to let me do the decisions," the self said, turning around him. "Stop combating me, you know it's a hopeless battle you're fighting. You can't fight yourself."  
  
"But I may not like the decisions you make," Nathan objected. "When I let you take over me, you do terrible things!"  
  
"Terrible, but great," the self said, smiling evilly. "I am the part of yourself that hates humanity for what it has done to you, to us, to our kind. I am the part of you that is supposed to dominate you."  
  
"I don't want you to make decisions," Nathan threw with furry. "I don't want you to make me doubt what I know! I want you to leave me alone! I, am myself, and make my own decisions."  
  
Nathan's conscience walked closer, his evil smile fading away.  
  
"No," he said in the coldest voice Nathan had ever heard. "Without me, you don't have choices, and thus, does not have to make any decisions. Why can't you see what I want? I want to revenge all those mutants out there, persecuted by humanity, rejected for what they are!"  
  
Nathan grabbed his head, confused with his own thoughts.  
  
"But I also want revenge," he said, making his conscience smile with satisfaction. "I . . . I just don't want it like you."  
  
"That is why I do not want you to interfere with my affairs," the self said, a dagger appearing through his right wrist. "Just make it easy for ourselves, and let me do the choices."  
  
Nathan's eyes filled themselves with furry.  
  
"They, those people in the fire, they never considered you as a part of their family, so why should you? They don't care," the conscience continued, turning the dagger in his hands. "But I care, Nathan. I care for you. If I care for you, tell me, would I harm you? I am doing this for your best."  
  
"You are myself," Nathan said, hate dripping in each of his words. "You can't care for me, you just want it your way. I will never allow you to make my choices."  
  
At that, Nathan's wrist opened and a dagger appeared in his hand. He swished it towards his conscience, why backed away quickly, but received a large cut in his neck. A filet of blood started to drip from the gash.  
  
"Fine," the self said, in the same extremely cold voice. "So be it."  
  
Suddenly, Nathan saw him raise his palms, directing them towards him. Reflex brought him to cover his face with his arms, closing his eyes. He felt the air sucking him again, except that this time in was excruciatingly painful. Minutes passed and when the pain was gone, he opened his eyes, to see that he was at the docks again.  
  
"He left me alone?" he muttered to himself, seeing no one around and not feeling a headache.  
  
A great joy got over him as he smiled, so happy of finally not having to worry about his voice getting him again. He felt free. He started walking, light-hearted, but his expression changed as he saw that he wasn't wearing the same clothes. If was like he was wearing bran new clothes: a long white trench coat, a baggy pair of black pants with multiple pockets, a new white shirt . . .  
  
"Wait a minute," he thought, frowning. "I got rid of him?" he told himself "Or did he get rid of me?"  
  
Thoughts zoomed in and out of his head as he started walking faster. He took many different paths, and finally ended up in a little clearing, which seemed to be the middle of the docks, surrounded by other storehouses and depots.  
  
He walked around, now really asking himself if he was really rid of his other self.  
  
"Nathan?" he heard a voice say behind him.  
  
He turned around quickly and saw Scott standing there, in what looked to be a leather uniform of some sort. Nate could see Max's figure standing right behind him.  
  
He was about to say something to show him that he was himself again, when suddenly, the sound of some sort of metal object was heard and both Scott and Max ducked to the floor. Nathan heard Cyclops yell in pain as this object hit his side. Nathan made a few steps forward, ready to go help his friend, when an invisible force held him back. This force started bragging him away from his friends, up to the middle of the area. He looked around, wondering what was going on.  
  
"You didn't think I would give up that easily," a voice whispered in his head.  
  
Nathan turned violently on himself, looking for someone that wasn't even there.  
  
"Why are you doing this to me?" he shouted.  
  
"Nathan, you are bringing this on you. I. Am. You." the voice continued.  
  
Nathan looked towards his friends again, seeing Scott on the ground, blood all over his left side.  
  
"Pitiful, no?" he heard the same voice say, this time out of his head.  
  
Nate turned and saw him there, his second self standing not too far away, leaning on one of the nearby crates. He was wearing the same clothes as him, except that his clothes were all black.  
  
"This is real?" Nathan whispered, looking with fascination at this person who looked so much like him.  
  
"You are the one bringing me here, Nate," the conscience said. "You chose the hard way to let me win. Its time to finish this."  
  
Nathan looked at himself, seeing his 'conscience' walk forwards. Before he knew it, he was catching the dagger thrown towards him.  
  
"How can I have daggers coming out of my forearms?" he asked to his conscience, the one who had thrown the dagger.  
  
"You only have to believe it's there," the conscience said maliciously. "These daggers are the weapons of your mind."  
  
At this, Nathan saw his self 's wrist open and another dagger get in his hand. It was thrown to him, and with a reflex, Nathan ducked sideways, throwing the dagger he was holding.  
  
This self arrived in front of him, having already moved after throwing his weapon. Nathan was caught off guard as his self tripped him over, making him fall on his back to the pavement with a thud. He saw his enemy above him, getting another knife from his wrist, and he just had time to move as it logged itself into the cement, where his chest had been. He jumped to his feet, holding the arm of his self and twisting it behind his back. This way, he couldn't move and Nathan had the chance to give him a blow in the stomach. With his vacant hand, the self grabbed Nathan at the neck, making him lose his breath and this way getting back the use of his other arm. Nate grabbed the hand that was chocking him, but saw that it was useless to try to push it away, so he high kicked his opponent at the knee, then since he had bend down because of the pain, kicked him in the face with his knee.  
  
His adversary staged back, one hand over his face. When he looked up, Nate saw that he had most probably broken his nose, even though there was not much blood. His good nature kept Nathan from taking this opportunity to get him while he was still under the shock of the blow, and so he waited a few feet away, for his opponent to get his wits back. He looked at his self for a moment, then turned to see if Scott and Max were still down. The time he took to turn and locate his friends, his self had got back up and had created another dagger. Nathan sensed this and ducked, turned around quickly and grabbed his arm, twisting it again. His enemy had guessed that and punched him in the jaw with his available hand, making him stag back. Before he could react, his foe had given Nathan another 'palm-punch' in the face that had made him stag back to the floor. He quickly got back to his feet growling. He looked up, seeing his conscience smiling wickedly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"This way," Jean said, turning around another depot.  
  
A little weird grunt was heard behind her and she turned around to see what was Logan's problem now. She saw him looking at his hands, that weren't bleeding anymore.  
  
"Looks like we got our mutations back," he growled, unsheathing his claws.  
  
"Good!" Jean exclaimed. "I can track Scott's brainwaves now."  
  
The X-Men followed her as she started walking again.  
  
"He's over here," Jean continued, making sure everyone was behind her.  
  
They walked around a few stock houses and ended up in a small area that seemed to be the centre of the docks. It was a total wreck, where boxes, crates, boat equipment and other things were pilled up in a very rough way. Jean let out a little yelp as she ran towards a rather large pile of crates.  
  
"Scott!" She screamed, seeing her fiancé bleeding badly.  
  
The others joined around him, seeing that he was badly injured, and was in desperate need of a doctor. His whole right side was literally bathing in blood. Max was trying to support him.  
  
Jean immediately started checking on him, as he opened his eyes lightly. He saw Jean, turned his head, saw the others. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. Slowly, he raised a finger and pointed in front of him. They all looked in the direction he was indicating.  
  
Their jaws dropped, seeing not just Nathan, but also the person they had fought back at the school.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The conscience spotted all the X-Men looking at them at the same time Nathan did. The only difference in the way they looked at them was that Nathan looked at them with distress and anxiety, and the self looked at them with a mocking smile on his face.  
  
~  
  
"What's going on?" Jubilee asked the others, staring at the two people.  
  
"I have absolutely no idea," Jean said slowly without taking her eyes of the two Nathans.  
  
The Nathan they had fought, the one dressed in black, made a few steps forwards.  
  
"Do you believe in what you are seeing?" he asked in a loud voice.  
  
The X-Men stared at him, not knowing what he meant. He just smiled.  
  
"Perfect," he whispered, turning back to Nathan, who also didn't have a clue of what he was saying.  
  
Before Nathan could do anything to stop him, another sword had come out of his wrist and was now flying towards his friends. Jubilee moved just in time to avoid it as it logged itself in the crate behind her.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Nathan yelled, still under the shock of knowing that his conscience had nearly killed someone. "What was that for?"  
  
The self smiled.  
  
"I believe you know I want to kill you," he said, walking to him again. "I am you, and yet so different at the same time. Why would *I* protect you friends?"  
  
At that, they started fighting again.  
  
His enemy went to punch him, but Nathan blocked him with his forearms, giving him a side thrust at the same time.  
  
Nathan knew fighting like this wouldn't bring them very far, and so he started using his martial art training.  
  
He made a backward flip, hitting his opponent in the face as hard as he could. He turned around, his foot in the air, wanting to make it hit right above his neck, but his self bent down to avoid the hit. He grabbed his foot and made it twist, forcing Nathan to let himself fall to the ground if he didn't want to end up with a broken leg. Again, Nathan tried to hit him with his leg, using his judo movements, but always being blocked by his opponent's forearms. He tried a punch but it was also blocked, centimetres to his face. They both tried knocking themselves to the ground at the same time, resulting that they both ducked and made their legs hit, just before they both took a kung fu position, taking their breath.  
  
"Why . . . are you here?" Nathan asked, his heart beating fast as he tried to get his breath back. "Why are you fighting me, if you are myself?"  
  
"You were looking for an answer, Nathan," the self said, staying in his martial arts position. "It's your question that brought you here. That brought me here."  
  
"What is my question?" Nathan asked.  
  
The self smiled, still trying to catch his breath as eh shook his head negatively, indicating him that he wasn't going to tell.  
  
"You cannot tell yourself who you are," he said. "You have to discover it for yourself. Now fight."  
  
The self made a movement forwards, kicking Nathan in the stomach while he was off guard, trying to understand fully the meaning of what he had just said.  
  
Nathan growled as he made a step forward, blocked his second hit, jumped to the floor and made him trip by passing his leg behind his. His self, in stead of falling to the ground, pushed his hands on the ground making him flip backwards so he wouldn't fall on his back and he exposed to receive a hit.  
  
Without Nathan noticing, he formed some sort of Chinese metal 'star' in his hand. When he had the opportunity, he threw it towards the X-Men, who still hadn't got over the fact that there were two of them.  
  
The little metal object flew towards them, and it was Logan who received it in the shoulder. With a feral growl, he took it out of his skin, ignoring the deep wound he had, going as deep as his adamantium-covered bone let it go. His healing power did the rest of the job.  
  
He made a movement forwards with Iceman, but they stopped seeing the two Nathan stop fighting at their approach. They both looked evilly at them.  
  
"Stay out of this!" Nathan yelled savagely, fists joined, ready to hit his opponent again.  
  
To approve his point, his self made some sort of movement and they were both pushed back with force. The two X-Men collided with the warehouse wall behind them and they fell to the floor with a gigantic thud.  
  
"We can't walk to them," Jean said, feeling that there was some sort of invisible force keeping them back.  
  
They could only watch as the two started fighting again, Nathan leaning on to the floor, on his arm, double kicked his opponent in the ribs, making him stag back, just to receive another punch.  
  
"They're going to kill each other!" Kitty exclaimed, seeing Nathan cough up blood.  
  
"Jean!" Max said.  
  
As she turned around, she saw he was pointing at her right. She turned and saw Pyro, running towards them, bruised and battered, his uniform covered with cuts and scars. He was panting. Giving barely more than a glance at Nathan and his self, he ran to the X-Men.  
  
"There . . . there . . . he's not fighting anyone," he arrived to say, in desperate need for air.  
  
"Wow, pal," Jubilee said, patting his back "Breathe, dude."  
  
He pointed at Nathan.  
  
"The other one like him . . ." he said slowly. "He's not real."  
  
The looked at him, then at Nathan and his self, both bruised and bleeding.  
  
"It's his mutation," Pyro said, holding his stomach, trying to get more air into his lungs.  
  
Suddenly, Nathan's conscience stopped fighting and turned to the X-Men, looking at them evilly with his amethyst eyes. His glare stopped on Pyro as he growled with fury.  
  
Before Nathan could stop him again, he walked towards the X-Men, something about him making them all back up; all except Pyro, who just stayed where he was, breathing deeply.  
  
Nathan looked hostilely at him.  
  
"Will a knife through your throat prove you that I'm as real as your lack of air?" He said hostilely, pulling out a knife from his wrist.  
  
"I don't believe so," Pyro said, getting up. "I simply don't believe."  
  
Suddenly, Nathan's conscience looked interested as he smiled nastily.  
  
"Oh, trust me, I'll make you believe," he said, walking back to Nathan who was now trying to reach the X-Men.  
  
"It's not finished," he added, as Nathan blocked the punch he had directed to him.  
  
They started fighting again, but this time much closer to the X-Men, Jean tried to use her power on them, but the force around them was still protecting them.  
  
A knife came flying towards her as she ducked to the side. The object burned into the wall, disappearing into thin air.  
  
"Jean," Pyro called out. "Believe there is no weapon."  
  
"What?" she asked, keeping an eye on both Nathans' evolution in their fight.  
  
"It's his mutation," Pyro said again. "You have to believe there is no weapon."  
  
"Pyro, what are you talking about!" she yelled above all the noise.  
  
"The knives! The other Nathan! There not there!"  
  
The X-Men just stared as another knife came flying at them, this one missing Max by an inch.  
  
~~~  
  
The conscience kept fighting Nathan, who was beginning to loose the advantage of the fight. He was losing confidence, beginning to wonder . . . There was only the will of staying himself that kept him going, kept him from abandoning, of taking the hits one after the other.  
  
His conscience threw another knife, that disappeared after having missed Ororo by mere centimetres.  
  
"Don't hurt them!" Nathan shouted with anger.  
  
"You want to know why you, -well-, I am trying to hurt them?" the self said, not without stopping the fight. "Because you, and so I, don't like mutants. You don't like being one."  
  
Nathan punched him in the jaw, but still he went on.  
  
"You have the look of a man that accepts what he sees, because he expects to wake up," the self said with the same mocking smile.  
  
"It's only reality," he said, blocking another hit. "Face it."  
  
Nathan paused, barely feeling the stinging pain he felt from the wounds he had received.  
  
~~~  
  
Jean was thinking about a way to stop this self from killing Nathan. He was visibly loosing the battle, occupied in trying to understand what his opponent was saying to him.  
  
"Okay," she said finally. "Pyro, you said the knives weren't real, what does that mean?"  
  
"Well, they're not real," he said, moving his arms. "We have to believe that there not there, and we won't get hurt."  
  
"Okay, show us then," Jubilee said, mocking him. "Place yourself in his way and we'll see if those daggers are real or not. Maybe they'll only give you 'fake' pain."  
  
"Jubs, you're an idiot," Pyro said making only one step towards Nathan's self. "It's more difficult than you think."  
  
A yell was heard as they saw Nathan fall to the ground, his Self holding a bloodstained weapon in his hands.  
  
They were very close from the two opponents, and once Nathan was down, his lookalike walked towards them, more precisely towards Rogue, who had been a little further away from the group, since they had found Scott.  
  
Nathan got back to his feet, a large wound on the side of his chest. He made a few shaky steps forward, forming a dagger in his hand. His eyes widened in fear as he saw what his conscience intended to do.  
  
He wobbled as fast as he could up to him, seeing that he was heading for Rogue. He saw himself pull out a gun from inside his cloak and a white painful fright filled his mind as he saw him direct the revolver towards Rogue.  
  
Before he knew what he was going, he had placed himself between his self and Rogue. Nathan looked into the cruel amethyst eyes of his enemy, as he heard the gun fire.  
  
Nathan's body went numb as he began to feel blood in his mouth. He looked down, saw the red whole in his white shirt. He looked at his hand, saw the dagger. With one last look into his enemy's eyes, and assembling all the energy he had left, he plunged it in front of him, into his conscience's heart.  
  
The conscience tried to speak, as the X-Men just stared in horror.  
  
"You're mind makes it real," he whispered into Nathan's ear.  
  
They both looked at each other, an undefined look in their eyes. Slowly, the conscience, the daggers, slowly disappeared, melting into Nathan again, and strangely, the boy was taking a mix of appearances. He looked more like his conscience, and yet was still himself.  
  
Once they had disappeared, Nathan couldn't feel his heart beat.  
  
With one last look at those he knew were his family, he fell to the ground, a puddle of blood forming around his lifeless form.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
OoOoOoOoOo . . .  
  
No, it's not over, don't worry.  
  
I never really saw how my fic was a bit similar to the Matrix! Like Neo, Nate is a criminal 'at home', then when Neo gets into the matrix and he doesn't believe it at first, it's like when Nate becomes a mutant and doesn't believe it . . .  
  
I really really really really really hope you liked this chapter and please please please please review to tell me what you think.  
  
Don't worry if you haven't figured out Nate's mutation yet. It's normal. I'll clear everything up in the next chapter :p  
  
:) 


	19. Hanging on to life

Hello again, dear readers!  
  
I've finally figured out what I'm going to make happen in my story! Ideas are always very well accepted.  
  
For those who aren't as obsessed as me (and go looking through internet to find everything they can on X-Men 2), I just want to tell you that I am pissed off. Well, first of all, we'll only get a glimpse of Gambit and Jubilee . . . BUT we will probably see them more in . . . X-Men 3! Yay!  
  
Oh, and for other X-Men female fans, here are two words that, like me, will make you look even MORE forward to the X2 movie. The two words: Wolverine. Naked.  
  
AHHHHHH!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 19:  
  
The X-Jet landed silently under the basketball court and the two platforms closed silently as the jet stopped humming. A large flap opened in the back and Scott ran out, followed by Iceman and Logan.  
  
"Scott!" Jean yelled from the jet. "Get me a stretcher! Quick!"  
  
Cyclops ran out of the landing room and came back moments later with Logan, carrying a stretcher. Wolverine helped Jean and Ororo as they held Nathan's body, carrying it up to the stretcher.  
  
He fell limply onto it and the stretcher's white tissue was quickly dyed crimson. Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and Max came out next, all very pale and praying for Nathan's life. Jean had to give him artificial breathing although the flight and was always giving him some sort of pill for his heart to keep beating. They all saw that Jean was really panicking as she knew the pills weren't working well, and Nathan's heart wasn't beating at all like it should.  
  
To add something weird, Nathan didn't look at all like himself. He had darker hair and skin and all had noticed that his eyes were purple. They didn't know if it was because maybe he was going to stay in his 'hostile' form.  
  
They all ran into the med lab, where Jean started giving out orders.  
  
"Pyro, Iceman, Rogue and Kitty, get out!" she yelled. "Ah, you too Jubilee, Logan, and yes, you too Scott."  
  
They all reluctantly started walking towards the exit, looking back at Nathan that was lying on the med table.  
  
"Rory, stay here," Jean yelled. "I need you to help me."  
  
Ororo walked back to her, ready to do whatever she could to help Nathan.  
  
"Get me those IV tubes over there," Jean said as she started plugging machines to the boy's arms.  
  
"And close the door," she added over the lame noise the monitor was giving.  
  
~~~  
  
Logan walked again down the hall and back, wondering what was going on in the med lab. He stopped in front of Rogue, stunned by the sad look on her face and tears in her eyes. She ignored them as she looked up at Logan, letting them fall freely onto her cheeks.  
  
"Is he going to be all right?" she asked, sobbing between each word.  
  
Logan sat beside her and passed her arm around her elbows.  
  
"Don't worry, Marie," he said slowly. "Things el' turn out just fine."  
  
Rogue kept crying, occasionally whipping her face with the palm of her hand.  
  
"He took the bullet for me," she said after a while. "I would have been killed, but instead, he's the one that's going to die. Killed by himself."  
  
She sobbed again, resting her head on Logan's elbow.  
  
"I don't want him to die," she whispered.  
  
"He won't, sweetie," Logan said, trying to comfort her the best he could.  
  
Suddenly, the med lab door opened and Ororo appeared in the entrance, closing the door behind her. Logan and Rogue looked at her expectantly.  
  
"It's not good," she said with a sigh. "Not good at all."  
  
She walked in front of them and sat not too far away.  
  
"Jean's doing the best she can, but she can't do miracles," she whispered.  
  
"So . . . what's going on with the kid?" Logan asked.  
  
"Well, he's taking more and more the appearance of the other Nathan, the one we fought last time," Ororo started. "We think it's because . . . this other self won over him."  
  
"You mean he's going to stay . . . like, all evil?" Logan asked, sensing that Rogue was listening carefully.  
  
"Logan, there's already not a very big chance for him to ever wake up," Ororo said, shaking her head. "We have no idea what's going to happen to him, and even less about his mutation. Pyro's out cold because he wasted too much of his energy, and he can't explain right now what he knows about his mutation."  
  
Bobby, Max and Jubilee suddenly appeared out of the elevator, all changed into normal clothes.  
  
"Pyro's sleeping," Jubilee said quietly, -for once- not making fun of her friend, knowing that he didn't deserve it and it was definitely not the time.  
  
"How . . . how's Nathan?" Max asked timidly.  
  
"Not well," Logan said slowly.  
  
They heard the elevator door open again, and this time it was Scott and the Professor that appeared. Strangely, Kitty was said to be in her room and didn't intend to come down. Jubilee supposed that she was crying. Poor Kitty hadn't spoken since Nathan had fell to the ground. It was to say, she was traumatized.  
  
"Jean's still working on him?" the professor asked, seeing everybody in the hallway.  
  
Many nodded approvingly.  
  
They waited in silence, not being able to hear anything from the med lab. An hour passed, and finally, the door opened.  
  
A very tiered and sad looking Jean appeared in the entrance, still wearing her uniform, her red hair vaguely tied into a ponytail. She sighed seeing everyone outside the door. They all just looked at her, some wondering if they wanted to hear opinion of Nathan's health.  
  
"All we can do now is pray," she said, trying to hide a few tears from gliding down her cheek.  
  
Rogue started crying again and Jubilee joined her. Max had stayed expressionless, the same look of wretchedness he had on his face since it had all started. Logan growled, both Scott and Ororo sighed and the professor simply closed his eyes for a moment.  
  
All of them wanted Nate to stay alive.  
  
~~~  
  
Rogue looked around the med lab on more time.  
  
After Jean had finished explaining everything about what had happened to Nate, she had told her that she could take the first watch round. Jean would have done it herself, but she needed to rest and so it was Rogue that was watching over Nate for the next three hours. After her, there was Kitty, then Logan in the morning and Max later on.  
  
Rogue grazed the side of Nathan's cheek one more time, feeling pity as she looked at him, attached to the med lab table with metal cuffs. Jean had said it was necessary, because he had taken his 'other self's appearance, and so might be dangerous.  
  
Marie sat back down in her chair, looking at the monitor with an evil look, as if warning it of not letting the green line go straight, *again*. Jean had showed her everything to do in case it went dead, and she had used those methods more than four times in the past thirty minutes. Every time, the monitor started his circuitousness again. Rogue was scared to loose Nathan every time it did that.  
  
Once, she was sure he had opened his eyes, but nothing changed on the machines to prove it.  
  
Finally, three hours later, Kitty came to replace Rogue. At first, she had just peeked through the med lab door, but slowly, she entered, Rogue noticing that her eyes and cheeks were all swelled up by having cried too much. She had tried to hide it, but nothing could hide true despair.  
  
She had brought her hand to her mouth seeing Nathan lying on the table, and after shedding a few other tears, she got herself together and took Rogue's place near him.  
  
Rogue went back upstairs to try and sleep a bit, but she would only have had nightmares about what had happened, so she decided to just stay up with Jubilee and Max, that also didn't want to sleep.  
  
They talked, trying to free their minds of what was weighting on their hearts, but it didn't really work. Some time later, the sun rose, not being very clear through all the grey clouds. They went down to breakfast, and it was there everyone saw how each and every one of them were so affected by Nathan's life. Even if they didn't know much about him, they were affected by his . . . situation.  
  
Logan took turn after Kitty, and to relax, all the younger X-Men, save Jean and Logan who were both with Nathan, went in the common room to watch the news, still trying to get their mind off things. What they saw on television didn't at all.  
  
They watched as a man in a grey suit, holding a microphone, appeared on the TV. Screen. He started talking as an unsightly scenery was made visible behind him.  
  
"Behind me are the rest of New York's east side docks," he started. "That have vanished through the night, result of somebody terrorist attack. It was caused late in the night, as gasoline had been sprayed over a big part of the warehouses. Four of the six security guards were burnt alive, but are said to have been nocked out before the incident. Authorities confirm that this attack might not have been caused by mutants, but maybe by teenagers from the neighbourhood. The odds are that mutants are the ones that have destroyed the docks, and so the search goes on, as the police is still looking for suspects."  
  
Pyro lowered the volume as another person appeared on the screen, showing firefighters in the background, trying to tame a rather large fire back at the docks.  
  
"Someone else was at the docks!" he said. "Nathan's not the one who lit the fire, since it was put up after we left."  
  
"Man, this is freaky," Bobby said, leaning back in the sofa.  
  
"Hey, wait!" Scott said. "Turn it up!" he added, talking about the volume.  
  
Pyro obeyed and they all listened as a woman with short black hair started speaking.  
  
"The Friends of Humanity are still searching for Magneto, mutant terrorist accused of the Liberty incident. No trace of him has been found yet, but many are suggesting that he is still in the United States."  
  
A picture of Magneto appeared in the corner of the screen.  
  
"Friends of Humanity, my ass," they all heard Jubilee mutter grumpily, making them smile a little.  
  
"But the professor still can't trace Magneto down, even with Cerebro," Ororo said. "He knows he's probably going to do something, well, against the humans, and all."  
  
"Yeah," Rogue said quietly. "But right now we better keep an eye on what's going to happen to Nate, and then we might maybe need to check out what happened to the docks," she whispered.  
  
They all looked at her, seeing her thinking, as if planning what she wanted to do. It was sweet, yet so sad at the same time, seeing how much she seemed to care for Nathan.  
  
Kitty, on the other hand, was much better at keeping her feelings for herself. Everyone could see that she had cried an ocean in her room when they had come back. She tried to smile sometimes, but it looked so painful every time.  
  
She hadn't eaten much at breakfast, and had gone down to check on Nathan five times since her watch.  
  
Jubilee liked Nathan, sure because he was good looking, but she only considered him as a good friend. She actually seemed more interested in Max, but that was another story. She was currently pretty stressed out in knowing what was going to happen if both her two best friends loved him. Who would *he* choose?  
  
The day passed slowly, the young X-Men checking frequently on Nathan, still wondering what was going to happen to him. Jean had suggested that there were four things that could happen to him. The first one was that he was in coma, and there it would depend on many other things for him to wake up. The second, was that he was going to wake up . . . as his other self ( and everyone knew that wouldn't good at all). The third solution was the one everyone wanted: for him to wake up, as himself. The fourth, and last option was the one they all feared: his death.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yes, who would he choose? Review, tell me with WHO you would like him to go with and WHY. I am mostly preoccupied with the WHY. And please, don't just say: *because she loves him more*. Give me good reasons.  
  
Hey, I don't know much about Gambit, but do you think I should put him in? Add a little more problems with Nathan and his choosing one girl?  
  
Just for you all to know, there's a lot more things going to happen and I've got full of ideas. Yay!  
  
You can just review now. *grins*  
  
P.S.: For the readers of 'Cherry Love' and 'Nightmare', next chapters also coming soon. I'm getting a whole week off school. Holidays. I'll have lots of writing time. Another yay!  
  
Well, bye . . . until I send my next chapter!  
  
P.P.S.: Review. 


	20. Wake up call

Hey! I'm already up to chapter 20!  
  
This one is a bit short . . . I'll send in the next chap. Soon!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 20:  
  
It had been three days since the X-Men had brought Nathan back from the docks, and he still wasn't getting better. In fact, it seemed that he was getting worst every day, to everyone's grief. Every two to three hours, the younger X-Men took turns in guarding him.  
  
Now, it was Max's turn to lookout on Nathan.  
  
As always, the boy was attached to the metal table, IV tubes and machines strapped to his arms but no oxygen mask on his face, because he didn't need artificial breathing. It was the only good thing about his condition. Jean had arrived to take out the bullet in his chest, but it had caused a lot of damage, without counting all the injuries he had received during his fight. There were more than many.  
  
Floating two feet above a turning metal chair next to Nathan's bed, Max just stared at the monitor, His eyes focussing on the green line moving up and down on the little screen. According to Jean, it was normal for it to be so small, because of Nathan's weak heart and bad condition. Suddenly, the line went flat. Max's eyes widened as he jumped to the floor to his friend's side. Quickly, he pressed on hard on his chest once, than twice. The line jumped, went straight for a while, then continued zigzagging up and down, still very lowly.  
  
Max sighed as he walked to the counter. Like Jean had showed him, he took a little glass vial and a syringe and pricked through the cover. He filed it up with the translucent liquid contained in the vial, then walked back to Nathan. He held his friend's arm as the needle pricked through his skin, injecting the liquid. The line on the monitor started going slightly higher, without exactly going faster. Max sighed as he replaced the little vial on the counter shelf. It contained adrenalin, some sort of drug doctors used to reanimate people. It had a good affect on Nathan's heart, and so he was given at least two shots a day. Jean knew that they couldn't keep on doing that, because the drug wasn't supposed to be used on regular basis. It might kill him at the end, but they didn't exactly have a choice.  
  
Max floated back to his seat and crossed his legs under himself as he continued staring at the machines indicating Nathan's physical condition. A few minutes later, Maxim noticed the monitor's line going rather high, making a little piercing sound, as if giving a warning. Max frowned as he looked at Nate's still form and then at the monitor, that was now normal again. Fifteen minutes later, the strange warning noise was heard again as the green line went up, then continued his normal route.  
  
This time, Max decided to do something and so he floated up to the wall where a phone was hung up. He picked it up and pressed on a blue button.  
  
"Yes, Jean?" Max asked in the receiver. "There's something going on with the monitor . . . it keeps doing those high jumps every few minutes . . . no, nothing's changing with Nate . . . okay, see you in two minutes . . . yeah, okay."  
  
As ordered, Max walked back to his place, waiting for Jean to come investigate. His eyes ran around the room, and stopped on Nathan. Nothing had changed. He looked at his still face, and went down to his hands, wrists tied to the table. Something caught his eyes as he looked at his friend's feet, ankles tied to the table like his wrists.  
  
Max walked forward, noticing something around the metal latches. He moved Nathan's feet to see what was going on with the latch and his eyes widened as he saw that his friend's ankles were plastered in blood. The latches had probably been too tight, and Jean was the only one that had the keys to open them. Max unconsciously moved Nate's foot, trying to see how it was placed for his skin to have been all battered by it.  
  
Jean entered the lab and walked to Max to see what was going on. She saw him looking at the latches as he turned to face her.  
  
"Ah, Jean," he said. "The monitor sort of did this jump thing."  
  
"What happened before that?" the doctor asked, checking the machines.  
  
"Well, the monitor went flat, I did the thing you showed me to do, and his heart started beating again, then I prepared the adrenalin and I gave him a shot."  
  
"Did the jump happen long after?" Jean asked, putting her fingers on Nathan's neck to check his pulse.  
  
"The first one was a few minutes after the dose, then the second one was fifteen minutes after that," Max said vaguely. "Hey, look at his feet."  
  
Jean turned one of Nate's feet and looked at the latches. She frowned.  
  
"What the hell happened here?" she asked. "Since when did this happen?"  
  
"The latches are too tight probably," Max said. "Can't you just untie them a little?"  
  
Jean went livid, as she looked closer at the latches.  
  
"Max, go get the professor and possibly . . . well, also the others," she said.  
  
"What is it?" Max asked, seeing the look on Jean's face as she placed her glasses on her nose and looked at the latches again.  
  
"This isn't right," she said finally. "He can't have got these wounds without moving."  
  
"You mean he struggled?" Max asked. "But how could he have?"  
  
Jean paused, and Maxim knew she was calling the others with her power. A few moments later, they arrived. Once the professor was there, Jean asked him to take a look at what was going on in Nathan's mind.  
  
"I can't go there Jean," he said. "You know what happened the last time, and now that it's not the safest thing to do right now. Plus he's in a coma, so it's even more dangerous."  
  
"Professor, I'm asking you to do this because I believe Nathan is not in a coma," Jean said. "Look at these marks," she continued, pointing at the latches around his ankles. "He tried to get out of the restrains."  
  
Looks of deep interest crossed the room as everyone tried to get a better look of the boy's ankles and at the latches which were clearly going to give up any time now. The metal had been bent in many different ways, and with just one other push or pull, they were surely going to give up.  
  
"So . . . do you mean to say that he's alright?" Bobby asked. "He'll . . . well, he's going to stay alive?"  
  
All the X-Men stared at Jean, eager to hear her answer.  
  
"I don't know what's going on," she said after a while. "He's not in a coma, but he's not waking up. Could he be struggling in his sleep?"  
  
"No, I don't think so, Jean," the professor said, directing his wheelchair towards Nathan. "Look at the monitor."  
  
Jean walked to the machine and looked at the green line. It was zigzagging like it always did, but she noticed that something had changed in the way it went up and down.  
  
"But this makes no sense," she said after reflection. "This would mean that he's awake."  
  
There was a sudden silence in the room, punctured by the monitor's beeps.  
  
"In fact, I think that he's been listening to our whole conversation," the professor said quietly. "Aren't you Nathan?"  
  
The X-Men looked at the boy's still body, visibly all on their guards. Scott made a step forward, followed by Logan and Ororo. They stopped about two feet away from the table.  
  
"Nathan?" the professor asked again.  
  
There was a moment of silence as they all looked at the table.  
  
It was to say, all the X-Men jumped as they saw Nathan open his eyes violently.  
  
A few even backed up as he tugged on the latches, one of them bursting open. With a very quick movement, he pulled backwards, moving the whole table with him and it collided with the wall, making the three other latches burst. Now free, Nathan jumped to his feet on the table, looked at the others, and it was then that they realized that there was still something very very wrong.  
  
His eyes were amethyst, filled with a noticeably evident malice. He smiled evilly at the X-Men, who just stared at him, shocked.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hi hi! I'm happy with myself right now.  
  
I could have added the next chapter WITH this one, but I felt like making you wait a little. Suspense is good . . . HA!  
  
P.S.: Do you want:  
  
Nathan to stay evil  
  
Nathan to stay normal but to be evil (eh?)  
  
Nathan to be normal again and to control his mutation . . . but you haven't figured out perfectly what it was . . . haven't you? Yes! I like keeping the anticipation! Love it!  
  
Well, I'm not going to tell you what d is, because it's reserved to let me know what you want to happen, other than the first three choices.  
  
Now, Review!  
  
P.P.S.: I didn't enter what I think I want is going to happen in 'the choice thing' (look at the first P.S.). I just want to hear what you would like to happen. 


	21. A life worth living very original

Chapter 21!!!!! Wow!  
  
I don't have any news about X2, but when I will, I promise to share it with you. I still repeat those two words to myself. Wolverine. Naked. WoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!!!!!!  
  
Ah.  
  
Well, I did some dog sleigh this week end. On a frozen lake. It was cool. Then I did some snowmobile too. I had fun. To finish, me and a couple of my friends did this really cool thing, witch is to jump off my roof a couple of times. That was also extremely cool. We all nearly killed ourselves, but that's another story. (Don't worry, I'm not mad. I did jump off my roof, but there was a lot of snow underneath. And ice. That is why I say we could have killed ourselves . . . No. Not really. I could only have broken a leg, at the very most, but I am pleased to announce that I am very fine) I am probably only going to give the image to everyone that Canadians are crazy. We're not, we just go to extremes sometimes. Well, I do anyways. Hehe.  
  
Oh well.  
  
Ah, for this chapter, I could have put it with chapter 20, but still. I like leaving some anticipation. And for the reviews, you can ALL forget 'and they lived happily ever after' . . . hehehe . . . mueheheheheh . . .  
  
**********  
  
It took the X-Men a few seconds before they realized that Nathan had once again hostile intentions. At first, they didn't move, afraid of what he could do, and so they waited for him to do the first move.  
  
Nathan kneeled on the table and jumped off, pushing himself against the wall once he was in the air. He landed many feets away, not too far away from Bobby and Pyro, who both had the reflex of taking a few steps away from him.  
  
Nate looked at them without moving, an unidentified look on his face. Suddenly, he made only one step towards them, slamming his foot on the tiled floor. Both boys jumped at least two feet high, thinking that he was going to attack; but still, the boy didn't move closer, something that resembled interest and curiosity glowing in his eyes.  
  
John and Bobby looked at each other for a moment, wondering what was happening.  
  
To the X-Men's surprise, they saw the professor wheel forwards, confident, as always.  
  
"Professor . . ." Jean tried to object, to stop him from approaching the boy.  
  
"Nathan," the professor said, making the boy turn around. "How are you feeling?"  
  
There was a moment of silence as the boy just stared at the professor, the X-Men staring at both of them. The boy didn't answer, and just stared at the professor in an awkward way.  
  
"Not so well, I see," the professor continued, wheeling a bit closer to Nathan again.  
  
Now the boy looked puzzled.  
  
"Don't worry," the professor added, to the X-Men's wonder. "It's just your other self again."  
  
The X-Men waited to hear the rest, and so did Nathan.  
  
"It died, and so did a part of you, but yourself couldn't live without it, and so, this part of you that died came back," the professor said.  
  
Suddenly, Nathan backed away, looking at everyone with something resembling fear. Pyro formed a fireball in his hand as he saw Nate give him an antagonistic look.  
  
"P-p-professor," John tried to articulate, seeing something in the boy's appearance change.  
  
Without any other word spoken, Nathan formed a dagger in his hand and threw it. Jubilee, who was right next to John, pushed Pyro out of the way because he was in the daggers line of attack. It grazed deeply John's right side, cutting through his shirt and his skin.  
  
The weapon fell to the floor not too far away, and so did John, holding his stomach in pain. His t-shirt's side was quickly tinted a deep shade of red.  
  
Ignoring him, Nate walked towards the door, but was blocked by Logan and Scott. Both looked slightly uncertain of themselves, even if they were only in front of a boy.  
  
Logan unsheathed his claws, and Scott raised his hand to the side of his visor, their moves making Nathan growl in dissatisfaction.  
  
"Scott! Wolverine!" they heard coming from John who was still crouched on the floor. "Listen . . . just trust me, don't move when he throws the dagger again!"  
  
The two men looked at each other, wondering if Pyro had completely lost it.  
  
"Just trust me!" he shouted again, as they all saw Nathan form another dagger. Trying to regain her wits, Jean raised her hand and concentrated to control the dagger. Her eyes widened when she saw it wasn't working, and that the dagger wasn't flying upwards, like she expected it to do.  
  
"Professor . . . what's going on?" she asked, trying to find a possible explanation.  
  
Nathan threw the dagger and both Scott nor Logan had the time to react as the dagger logged itself into Logan's chest. Rogue screamed, and it made Nathan turn to her, looking at her as if he was remembering something.  
  
They all heard Logan grumble loudly as he pulled the weapon out of his chest.  
  
"Trust me! Don't move when he throws the dagger," he said, imitating Pyro's voice. "He's lost his god damn mind."  
  
His wound started healing by itself as he looked up at Nathan again, who was still fixing Rogue.  
  
"Hey, kid," he said dangerously, making Nathan look back at him. ". . .Wha- . . ."  
  
They all stared as they saw that the Nathan that had woken up on the table was replaced by the one they knew, the one they hoped would stay like he was.  
  
Nathan blinked a few times as the X-Men saw clearly his eyes change from deep amethyst to green once again, the scars on his skin slowly disappear and his tan complexion lighten to some extent.  
  
He looked at Logan, a look of mystery in his eyes, and Wolverine could only stare back at him questioningly. Slowly, Nathan turned around, looking at the other X-Men across the room, and it looked as if he didn't recognize them. Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock as he brought a hand to his chest, letting out a whimper.  
  
"Oh, dear," They heard the professor exclaim. "Jean, help him, quickly."  
  
Suddenly, Nathan bent in half, holding his torso. He saw the X-Men walking closer to him, and he backed up, hitting the counter behind him. He made a wobbly step sideways and placed himself into a fighting position, as if he thought he was facing enemies.  
  
"Nathan," Max exclaimed, looking at him with compassion.  
  
Nate looked at him for some time, his arms slowly falling to his sides as he recognized his best friend. It was then Jean noticed that Nate was bleeding in profusion, in the middle of the chest, right in the heart area, where he had received a bullet, back at the docks. His eyes widened as he bent forwards coughing up blood.  
  
When he looked back up, his eyes were that strange purple again, even though his skin was normal without any trace of scratch marks or scars. He looked up at Jean, still bent in two, a rivulet of blood leaking at the corner of his lips.  
  
"Nathan, let me help you," Jean said reassuringly, walking towards him. "Your wound, it could be fatal if we don't nurse it quickly."  
  
She arrived next to Nathan and he shuddered, feeling her hand on his shoulder. He let her move him up to the table and he felt Scott help him onto the medical table. His breathing started being much more of a task as he let his head fall to the side, ignoring Ororo's voice, trying to motion everyone out of the lab, the noise everyone was making as they all wanted to see what was going to happen. His hearing was starting to fail him, as he couldn't discern what Jean was shouting or any other noise in the background. There was only a quick beep he kept hearing, a noise probably coming from one of the machines. He felt Jean plugging things to him again.  
  
His head turned sideways, he saw the professor, looking at him with pity. He saw him turn his head, and Nathan looked further behind to see what he was looking at. His eyes were also starting to fail him, but he focused and saw what the Professor was looking at. The monitor.  
  
Nathan's amethyst eyes were slowly filled with anxiety as he saw the green line going strangely quick and low. His ears came to focus again as he discerned a scream in the background, near the door.  
  
Kitty.  
  
Trying to make out the monitor better, Nathan frowned, not able to discern the green line very well. He closed his eyes a moment as he heard Jean scream something as she kept moving back and forth from the counter to the medical table.  
  
Nathan couldn't see it, but she was now wearing her doctor's vest and medical gloves.  
  
Opening his eyes again, he saw the monitor, now the lines going much bigger, but still very very fast.  
  
"Stay with us, Nathan," he heard the Professor whisper. "Stay with us."  
  
He tried to breathe, but no air was able to reach his lungs. He tried again to inhale, but to his horror, it wasn't working. His eyes could only watch as the green line of the monitor went dead, staying flat. His ears only hearing the exasperating sound, he only heard faintly Jean scream something.  
  
He felt a mask being placed on his mouth, and it was then he was able to breathe. He let in the air into his lungs; now feeling very dizzy because of the drug there was in the oxygen Jean was giving him.  
  
His sight started to get low again as everything became hazy, except for the monitor's steady green line. It was still flat.  
  
Suddenly, something made Nathan look hostilely at the line. He wanted to live. His life . . . his life . . . a life worth living . . .  
  
Slowly, everything went black. He heard the monitor for quite a long moment before falling into the depths of unconsciousness that were claiming his life. The long steady hiss the monitor was giving went on for a long time, and just as Nathan was going to give up, he heard it. What he was praying to happen. The monitor jumped . . . once, then twice, and then another time, starting a regular rhythm . . .  
  
Somehow, Nathan arrived to smile as he let himself fall freely into oblivion. Feeling his heart beating in his chest, Nathan calmed down.  
  
He was going to live . . . because he wanted to live.  
  
**********  
  
. . .  
  
. . .  
  
No. It's not the end. IF I was tiered of writing this story, I could have let it end like that, but writing is part of my life, and personally, I like my character.  
  
So, HA!  
  
Give me a free present and review. Please?  
  
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la . . . it's not the end . . . it's not the end . . . nah nah ni boo boo!  
  
WOW!  
  
Damit! I swear! I lightened up on the cranberry juice, but now . . . I can't stop myself from drinking! AHHHH!!!!!!  
  
P.S.:  
  
quote of the day:  
  
I asked God for a river, he gave me an ocean. I asked him for a tree, he gave me a forest. I asked him to review my story . . . and he just did.  
  
Moral: You can give a person much more what that person asks for, but it's the same result at the end . . . euh, I think it's very clear that I just made that up. Now, would you mind reviewing? You know, the purple button right under this? PPPPLLLLLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEE!!! 


	22. Mutation explanation

Well, I have a lot of things to say.  
  
*You see Trinity (from the Matrix)appear in front of you*  
  
"It's the question that brought you here, reader," she says. "It's the keenness that leads you . . ."  
  
RRRRIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHTTTTT!!!!! Whatever. I'm a little mad. Just a little crazy.  
  
*  
  
I explain Nathan's mutation in this chapter! You must be saying FINALLY. I also make John look smart, because he's the one who explains everything. Hehe.  
  
*  
  
Tigereyes, I was lightly surprised when I read your last review, because I DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!! I mean, the whole 'not allowed to go no the internet if it's not for work' thing that my school has, so I go illegally on fanfiction, pretending what I'm doing is extremely serious. Hehe. (Well, it is) If I get caught, I have a detention PLUS I can't go to the computer lab for two weeks. Well. I'll take my chances, because I am totally OBSESSED by fanfiction.  
  
*  
  
I'm sorry about my which and witch problem. I'm going to try and fix it. Do you see other similar mistakes?  
  
* SOME NEWS ON X-MEN 2 AND 3!!!  
  
Did you know we're all gonna get a glimpse of a furless Beast in X2? YAY! He's not doing a lot in the movie, but he'll be more in X3. I read somewhere that the people doing the movie said that three blue mutants would be too much. We already have Mystique and Nightcrawler.  
  
Also, Yuriko will not be called Lady Deathstrike but just plain Yuriko Oyama. Ah well. Tell me, I'm pretty good in giving info about X-Men, even if I only saw the movie, have read only few books (and in French, in plus, can you believe it?). I do A LOT of research on Internet. I am OBSESSED.  
  
Kitty is not going to be played by the same person in X2, and neither is Pyro. Oh, I can also assure you all that Pyro is in deed St. John Allerdyce (yes, that's his last name, if you are someone like me who didn't know). Why do they put St. before his name? Saint? What???  
  
And for the others that have also just seen the movie, and were wondering what Rogue's real last name was, its D'Ancanto.  
  
Did you also know, Magneto's name is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magnus???)  
  
For another thing, who is Theresa Cassidy? I hear she's also called something like Syrin. Can you please REVIEW and tell me who she is, what is her mutation, what's her role and all because I know (from a very good source called the Internet) that she's also going to appear in the movie. Tell me who she is (please).  
  
*  
  
Everyone! Today (the day I sent this chapter) is Friday March 14. ONLY 49 days 'till May second!!!!  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 22:  
  
Jean opened the door leading to the hallway and literally ran to the elevator. She pressed the third button, leading to the second floor. She waited impatiently as she felt the elevator go upwards. The door finally opened and she sprinted out, dogging a few students who just looked at her wide-eyed. It wasn't rare to see her with her doctor vest on, but lets say it wasn't normal to see it completely stained with blood.  
  
She passed another group of students who also turned around as she passed. A door opened and Scott appeared in the hallway.  
  
"Jean?" he asked, seeing his fiancé sprint pass him.  
  
Ignoring him, Jean continued her way until she reached a rather large wooden door, which she opened without knocking.  
  
"Professor!" she said, trying to catch her breath.  
  
Behind his desk, the professor looked up from his papers and saw Jean, leaning against the closed door, breathing deeply.  
  
He waited, knowing that she was going to give him her report on Nathan's status.  
  
"The wound's not doing so good, but he'll live," she arrived to say between two gasps for air. "But there's something going on that's weird . . . according to his health and everything else, he's supposed to be dead."  
  
"Yes, I know," the Professor said. "I saw the monitor."  
  
"But, don't you find this is very abnormal?" Jean continued, walking forwards.  
  
"Yes it is, but we can also say his mutation has something to do with it, probably," the professor said.  
  
"But what is it?" Jean asked. "Daggers coming out of his wrists? What's that?"  
  
The professor closed his eyes for a moment, obviously using his mutation.  
  
"I just called John," he said. "He knows something about it that we don't."  
  
They waited in silence a few minutes, until they heard a knock on the door. Pyro appeared in the entrance, a questioning look on his face.  
  
"John, you said you knew something about Nathan's mutation," the professor started, going straight to the point. "Tell us what you know, starting from the moment you were separated from Jubilee at the docks."  
  
"Well, I thought Jubilee was right behind me, professor," John said, trying to defend himself.  
  
Jean and Charles nodded, and he started.  
  
"Well, we saw this shadow, and I thought it was Nathan, and so I followed it," Pyro said. "I turned the corner and then, well, I saw a few other shadows all going in the same direction, away from me. I think those people were on the roofs. It was a really freaky thing to see, but I followed the shadows slowly. After some time, I think I got lost. I kept walking around looking for one of the X-Men, but then I saw the real Nathan, just sitting on the side of a warehouse. He was like, talking to himself or something . . . well, he was sort of unconscious. I stayed there and I saw he was going something with his hands. He did a dagger thing, and I watched it for a second because it looked weird. Nathan was still mumbling things, as if he was talking to himself inside his head. I saw the dagger in his hand disappear, so then I knew there was something fishy going on."  
  
The professor stayed quiet, wanting to hear the rest.  
  
"I wanted to see what it was, so I bent down to touch Nathan's hand, and another dagger appeared, except that this one was clearer than the other one. I saw that Nathan was still asleep, or something like that, and I tried to take the dagger. My hand just passed straight through it."  
  
"But what is that supposed to mean?" Jean asked, slightly impatient.  
  
"I think he can create things, but those things are controlled by his mind, sort of," Pyro tried to explain. "When he throws a dagger at someone, he's the one who creates the dagger with his mind, but its the mind of the other person makes it real. It's like if you see his dagger, and you believe it's there, you believe it's going to hurt you, and then Nathan uses that, to make his dagger real to your eyes."  
  
The professor and Jean looked at him blankly, visibly not understanding clearly.  
  
"He creates things by his mind," John tried to say. "Maybe because he didn't accept being a mutant, his mutation turned against him to show him that . . . well, to show him something for him to understand and accept who he is."  
  
The professor's eyes widened.  
  
"John, I am truly impressed," he said. "That is wonderful thinking."  
  
Pyro smiled, buffing his chest with pride.  
  
"Well, I'll go back to the lab," Jean said. "He'll still need a lot of work, but he'll live if he doesn't pull another one of his stunts like last night."  
  
**  
  
Back in the lab, Jean checked the machines connected to Nathan, giving information about his health status. All were stable . . .  
  
And they stayed like that for the next three days. After that, he woke up.  
  
**********  
  
Well, that was for the mutation explanation.  
  
What do you think? Still a little complicated? No worry! I will keep on explaining if it's needed. Oh, and in the next chapter, Nathan wakes up for real, and you'll see how he is . . . heheheh . . .  
  
And more action on the way. I swear. I have full of ideas. To settle in more eagerness in you, I have one question to ask you (but I don't expect you to answer or anything, because I already know the answer to my own question). To who belong the shadows at the docks? Who set the fire? Why? Do they know Nathan or the X-Men? Friends or enemies? TOM TOM TOM!!!  
  
* Oh, and go see Daredevil. It's a good movie. Better than Spiderman. *  
  
For all of you who like my story, I have great news.  
  
These past chapter, I've been saying that I have full of ideas for this story . . . well, to make this more simple, It's going to be in three parts. This story is the first part, and will end . . . like, in about ten to fifteen chapters . . . maybe more. The second part of 'A life worth living' will be just a little short, and you can already go read the first couple of chapters under the story name 'Unfinished Business'. It's just a little thing to introduce new characters that I will use in the third part to add them in Nathan's story, which will become not really just Nathan's story. I have many other characters that I'm wondering if I'm going to use . . .  
  
Well, the third part is based on the X2 previews I've been seeing. For that, I am going to write A LOT on this story for the next month, because once I see X2, I probably won't have the same ideas. I should stop talking now, and I will go write more chapters, but I need REVIEWS.  
  
Review? Please? . . . Pretty Please? . . . pretty please with sugar on top? . . . pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry? . . . pretty please with sugar on top, a cherry and chocolate sauce? . . . pretty please . . . 


	23. A new self

I really got pissed off after this chapter. First, my computer erased my first document of this chapter, and I was forced to start all over. Then, I saved it on a disc, but it wasn't formatted so I lost everything I had on it and had to start over AGAIN. Then, I wrote it again, based on the ideas that I had from my previous tries. I finished it without throwing my computer out of the window, and then, guess what I found. My first copy of the chapter.  
  
FINALLY, I decided to send you the second copy because it was the best. Hum.  
  
Oh, and thank you for everyone who explained to me who Theresa Cassidy is!  
  
**********  
  
All was darkness.  
  
It was all Nathan could feel, breathe, smell, hear or even see.  
  
An endless black void. Total oblivion.  
  
At one point, Nathan came to wonder if he was dead, or alive. Thinking slowly woke him up from a dreamless very deep sleep.  
  
He couldn't feel anything, couldn't move or open his eyes, and the only thing he could feel was a strange emptiness in his throat, but he knew he was alive. He just simply didn't want to believe that he was dead. It wasn't logical, from his point of view.  
  
"Jean?" he tried to mutter, only ending with some kind of a faint hum vibrating in his head.  
  
He hoped he was in the med lab, and not somewhere else . . . like the morgue. The thought of that made him shiver as he reminded himself that if he was thinking, he couldn't be dead. He suddenly felt a strange emptiness in his chest. How could he tell? Maybe this was death.  
  
Again, Nathan tried to move, but what was the use when you couldn't even feel your body?  
  
There was nothing else he could do but wait. Wait for what? Even he didn't know.  
  
He waited, for what he thought were minutes, hours, maybe even days. He had lost the track of time, and at every occasion, a strange sleep claimed him, not making it quite different from where he already was. The only thing that changed was that he couldn't think or keep questioning himself.  
  
***  
  
At an imprecise moment in time after what he defined as his 'unreal wakeup', there was a light change in what he felt. It was like if he felt dizzy, without really being awake. That feeling stayed like that for some time, until the black void that surrounded him simply vanished, being replaced by an image of pure repulsion and disgust that would have made him yell in horror, if he could use his voice.  
  
It seemed to be some sort of thought that his conscience had probably taken away from him. It was the back alley massacre, were he had killed those FOH members that had harmed Max. He could see their petrified faces, the blood, but was really scared him the most was himself, smiling at the sight of all that.  
  
The picture disappeared as quickly as it came, and another one replaced it. He seemed to be in a hospital, in the same room he had been back in Ontario when he had been in coma. He could see doctors around his bed, all looking at him with a look of disgust and fear. He looked down and saw that he was holding one of them down, his hand around his neck, pinning him down on the side of his bed. His face was a strange mix of red and blue, and he was visibly suffocating. The other doctors all started helping their colleague, and the last thing Nate saw was Max, leaning on his room's entrance door, looking at him pitifully.  
  
The image disappeared again, and there was a moment of silence as Nathan just wondered questioningly what these pictures could mean. Another image came before he could think of a solution.  
  
This one was in the med lab, and he was surrounded by the schoolteachers. He saw himself throwing a dagger towards Jean, before the image disappeared, like the previous ones, and being replaced by one that seemed to be at the docks. He was running, between warehouses that seemed to be drenched in some sort of liquid. Gasoline.  
  
Nate looked up, and saw that there was another figure on the warehouse, looking down on him. He ignored it, and kept on running, but soon realized that the figure was following him. He saw himself stop, and slowly, saw people come out of the shadows. They stayed faceless. He saw himself talk to them for a few minutes, then they were gone, each going their way.  
  
The image vanished as quickly as it came, and there was a short moment of silence, as Nathan tried to understand the significance of what he had seen. His first thought was that his second self was gone, and he was absorbing his thoughts. There was another possibility, which could be that his conscience was trying to make him crack.  
  
More time passed, but there was no other sign that appeared, no other picture. All was like it had started.  
  
Darkness.  
  
***  
  
A gigantic blow, like an electric current passing in his whole body woke Nathan up, and his first reflex, after feeling the excruciating pain in his body for a couple of seconds, was to get in an upright position. He tried to inhale a large amount of air, to try to calm down, but no oxygen was reaching his lungs. He tried inhaling another time, but it still wasn't working and so he brought his hands to his face, trying to feel what was blocking him. He felt something plastic placed on his mouth and nose, and he tugged on it. The mask gave a weak resistance before letting go and being literally ripped off Nate's face.  
  
He gasped noisily, and right after, felt pain, like a hot wire being placed on his chest. He brought his hands to the area that was hurting, which was the middle of his chest, slightly to the left. The heart.  
  
For the first time since his wakeup, Nate opened his eyes, but saw nothing except an odd whiteness. He closed his eyelids as he also felt his eyes burning. After a few seconds, he opened the again, and let them adjust to the strange light. A smile curved his lips as he ignored the pain for a moment, savouring the thought that he was in the med lab, at the school. He was safe.  
  
He coughed, one hand on his stomach as he looked around the room. His wound, and whole upper chest was wrapped in white bandages, but it hurt when he did anything else than breathe normally. It was annoying.  
  
He noticed that he was alone in the room, even if it was brightly lit. Jean had maybe had to run upstairs for something, because she had never seen her leave the med lab very long, when there was a patient in it.  
  
Looking around his bed, he saw that many machines, all connected to him by wires or tubes surrounded it. He started pulling some of the wires off his skin, seeing the machines go blank one after the other once he did. The needles in his arms were a bit more difficult to take out, but he arrived to, after light hesitations.  
  
He stayed still for a moment, just waiting to see if someone was going to come, but no one arrived. He noticed that a machine looking a bit like a monitor was making an odd, aggravating sound since he had pulled the wire connected between him and it.  
  
Sighing deeply, he swung his legs to the side of the bed and placed his bare feet on the cold floor. Looking down at his legs, he saw that he was wearing a pair of grey joggings that didn't belong to him. There was a black logo on the left side, representing an encircled X. The school insignia? He didn't think so.  
  
He tested his legs, leaning on the bed for a while, just to see if he could support his weight without falling to the ground. After a few tries, he was able to walk to the machine and turn it off, stopping the noise that was bothering him. A heavy, unwelcoming silence laid in the room.  
  
He walked around a little, looking at the papers Jean had placed on the counters, reading some parts of files or reports on other mutant students and their powers. Now he clearly knew why they couldn't go to normal hospitals. How could they welcome, and help, a teenage boy with the power to melt anything he touched?  
  
But he? What could he do? Blades out of his wrists . . . animalistic conduct . . . some heightened senses like hearing or sight. . . what was that all about?  
  
Sick of waiting for someone to show up, Nate walked to the entrance, opened it and stopped, suddenly curious of knowing what was behind all those doors in the hallway. All had the strange symbol of an encircled X on them.  
  
He smiled wickedly as he walked to the first intersection and strolled down of it, until he saw that he was in a large circular room, in which were displayed what looked to be costumes, or more like leather uniforms, behind glass panels near the walls.  
  
Ah. Now he remembered. Max had told him something about all of this. Something like, the school was the headquarters of a mutant crime fighting organization that protected and helped mutants from the rest of humanity, without showing hostility towards humans, but rather friendship. Friendship between humans and mutants? A dream. An illusion that doesn't, and will probably never exist.  
  
Nate looked at each uniform, trying to guess to whom they belonged. Logan's was easy because they were holes at the first areas, to let his claws come out. Ororo, who controlled the weather, probably had the one with the cape behind it. Scott's was also easy to identify because of the visor and pair of ruby lensed glasses placed next to it. The next uniform looked like Ororo's, but without the cape, and so was probably Jean's. Three others were almost identical, and they most probably belonged to Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee. One of them, probably Kitty's was made of lighter leather, probably for it to be easier for her to walk through solid walls. The last three ones were more masculine, like Logan's and Scott's, but were all three made of different types of leather. One was more adapted to fire, the other to ice, and the last one was also very light. Was this one Max's, and was lighter for him to fly better? Probably.  
  
The last thing he saw in the room was a closet, and he found inside pilled up shirts. He took one, seeing that he wasn't wearing anything else beside the pants, and slowly slipped it on, careful to not harm his wound.  
  
Nathan went out of the room, back to the hallway, and started walking towards another door, opposite to the bed lab. This one was strange. It was round, like all the other ones, but there was some sort of blue orb in the middle of it. It seemed you had to do something with it for the door to open. He kneeled down to face the strange object, and felt it flick on as it passed in front of his eyes. There was a small deep.  
  
"Cerebro is reserved for the use of authorized personnel only. Please contact Professor Xavier or Dr. Grey for more information," Nathan heard a voice saw from the door.  
  
He smiled, as something clicked in his mind. Cerebro. Cerebral psychic room in which telepaths can localize mutants, by their mutated brainwaves. Clever.  
  
Nathan's eyes widened and he awed in a surprised manner at his own intelligence. How come he knew what Cerebro was?  
  
Now slightly freaked out, Nathan decided that he would be better off looking for the professor or one of his friends. He walked to one of the panels on the wall, knowing by experience that it was the elevator. The door slid open, and he entered, pressing the button leading to the first floor.  
  
He didn't even know what time it was. He wasn't hungry, but that was because of the IV tubes Jean had plugged in his arm during his sleep, but he could say that he was especially thirsty. There was no sound as the door slid open, on the first floor, revealing a hallway that was the total contrary of the one he had come from. In this one, everything was made out of wood, or looked natural. It was to say, this floor was much more cozy and welcoming than cold, clean and shiny metal. Well, for Nathan it was.  
  
The first thing Nate noticed was that it was dark outside but that the whole school was completely lit in the inside. It meant that it was probably just after dinnertime. Probably between eight or nine. Slowly, he walked towards the common room, one hand around his aching waist. There was no one there  
  
His second option was the kitchen, but he also didn't find anyone there. Finally, he thought that maybe it wasn't that late after all, and that maybe they were all eating. He walked at a light pace until he reached the dining hall's door. It was slightly ajar and he could hear the teachers inside talking and laughing. He smiled. He knew all the students ate before the adults, and only the younger X-Men waited to eat with them.  
  
He opened the door completely and looked inside, smiling a little. He knew his being there would probably be somewhat of a surprise, but he would have never expected it to be like it happened.  
  
First off all, they all stopped eating or talking. The professor, sitting at the end of the table, was the first one who saw him, and, Nathan was very, very surprised to see the smile he had slowly disappear. Scott and Jean, seeing the professor's expression, both turned towards the door and Scott's jaw dropped as his fork fell in his plate with a clatter. Jean just stared, wide eyed, still holding her wine glass. Luckily, she caught it before it fell on the white nap. Logan, who was sitting at the other end of the table and was the closest to the door, had his feet on the table and a cigar in his mouth. His chair was leaning on two legs, and when he saw Nathan, he literally fell backwards, but jumped on his feet before the chair landed on the floor with a loud smashing noise. John was drinking, and choked. Bobby's eyes just widened, Rogue stopped chewing what she was eating, Kitty covered her mouth with her hands, and Jubilee, Max and Ororo just gasped.  
  
Nathan looked at them all, visibly very confused and frightened by their reaction.  
  
"W . . . what?" he asked, making a step back.  
  
There was a long moment of silence as their stone looks turned into questioning looks. Jean slowly took her eyes off him and turned to the professor, who was still looking at the boy with mixed enquiry and insecurity.  
  
"Nathan?" he asked.  
  
The boy just stared.  
  
"Will you come to my office?" the professor continued, to everyone's surprise.  
  
Nate didn't understand anything, but he nodded and made another step into the hallway. The professor wheeled out after him, and the dining room stayed silent, long after their departure.  
  
***  
  
Nathan closed the door behind the professor and watched him manoeuvre his wheelchair behind his desk. It is only then that he allowed himself to walk forward and sit in one of the armchairs, designated for visitors.  
  
"How are you feeling, Nathan?" the professor asked, a dead serious look on his face.  
  
"Fairly well, sir," Nate said, wondering why he was so serious. "Thanks to Jan's help, I suppose."  
  
"Yes . . ." the professor said vaguely, holding his chin and looking at Nathan an odd way that made the boy feel very uncomfortable.  
  
"Can . . . can I ask you why . . . euh, well why do you all look at me strangely?" Nathan asked timidly. "I hope you all know that I am very very sorry for what happened at the docks, and before that in the lab. I don't mean-"  
  
"Yes, I know Nathan," the professor interrupted. "It's not because of that that we all stopped when you entered. It's . . ."  
  
Now it was the professor's turn to look uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, to put it frankly, it's because at first impression, we thought you were your other self again," he said finally.  
  
"What?" Nate said, slightly offended. "But-"  
  
"No, Nathan," the professor interrupted again. "Don't say anything about that."  
  
Nate sighed in frustration, a deep frown on his face.  
  
"Fine, but can you at least tell me why you thought I was as my conscience again?" he asked.  
  
"Nathan . . ." the professor was uncomfortable again. "It's . . . well, you know, mutations do things to you after and during the first few months. Some are positive, others are negative. To truly explain this, I guess I should take you as an example."  
  
Nathan just looked at him inquisitively.  
  
"Your mutation is to create things by the thought, by making other people believe these things are there. The easiest thing for you to create are weapons, because people easily believe that they are there and that you can harm them with those things or protect yourself. Jean thinks that that part of your mutation can evolve, and you could maybe create a vaster amount of things," the professor tried to explain. "A mutation sometimes, well, a rather large amount of them, have a second stage. Yours is . . . your animalistic manners. Your high sense of hearing and sight come from there, and we are guessing that your conscience, or second self, also comes from there. Now that you have confronted your self, Jean and I are guessing that it will not take over you, unless your emotions surface too much again. I am talking about when you are angry, or scared. I do not think it will try to kill you. Never forget that that self is a part of you. It is the way you are."  
  
"Yes, I understand al of that, professor," Nathan said. "I'm not feeling the voice in my head the same way, and I think it's going to stay still for a while now, but I want to know why you all looked surprised. You were still thinking that I was my other self, but how could you do that? I mean, we look different . . ."  
  
Nathan's voice slowed down on the last word as he looked at the professor wide eyed. Xavier looked away, avoiding his gaze as he stared to understand.  
  
Nathan jumped out of his seat and quickly walked to the door, ignoring the professor calling his name. He ran out of the room until he reached the stairs, jogged up them until he reached the dorm room floor. He ran up to his room, ignoring the pain that had started in his chest again. Pushing open the door, he directly ran to the bathroom. He turned the light switch on and turned to face the large mirror above the sink.  
  
His jaw dropped and an odd look appeared on his face.  
  
His normal brown hair was of a much darker tone now, dark enough to give back bluish reflections. His skin was visibly more tanned and he could see his fangs were back, even if they were much smaller than how they were normally. His ears weren't pointy like they did sometimes, but they would probably appear over night.  
  
Nathan considered all of that very well, seeing it almost as normal, because it was a change in his appearance, that didn't exactly 'change' him. What frightened him the most was what had happened to his eyes. The same, strange amethyst colour that he was probably going to keep forever, like all the other changes.  
  
Now he understood why they had all looked at him that way. He just didn't look ordinary with those eyes. They way they were, their colour, it was just . . . strange. It made people see you a different way. The look that was in them was the way his conscience would look at people. With hostility.  
  
It wasn't the way Nathaniel Cage would look at someone, but he was stuck with it.  
  
Eyes that injected fear in you. That could see straight through you.  
  
Nathan didn't move for a long time, looking at his reflection.  
  
A long time after, he turned off the light, walked back into his room, shut his door, locked it and slumped into his bed, without a word spoken, trying to restrain the anger he was feeling.  
  
A voice kept teasing and laughing, muttering faintly in his head: "I am your conscience . . . I am you . . . You can't get rid of me . . . I killed you, you killed me. We are the same . . . I am still here, we both came back because we both held on to life . . . but I will get you. You can count on me for that . . . I will always be there . . . . . . I am your conscience . . . I am you . . ."  
**********  
  
He's more of himself, but his conscience made him absorb a great part of his self's appearance and now there are no 'walls' in his mind separating his sanity from his evil side. Both sides are all mixing up and so he is himself, with all the bad in it too, fighting to be released.  
  
Right.  
  
Okay, people. This is time for the real vote. I'm going to add romance (finally). Who would you think would go better with Nathan? Kitty or Rogue? I think I already made my pick, but want to hear your ideas and please precise WHY you want that person to be chosen.  
  
;p 


	24. Simple friend or maybe something more?

Sooooo . . . you don't want it to be Rogue who's with Nate . . . interesting. (*takes a conspirational look*) wwwwweeeelllll . . . I'll see what I can do. (Muahahahahahah!)  
  
***********  
  
Chapter 24:  
  
Nathan woke up to the sound of someone pounding on his bedroom door. He opened his eyes, but didn't look at anything in particular as he just listened to the person behind the door, that he recognized as Max.  
  
"Nathan! Nathan, open the door!" he was saying. "I need to talk to you. We need to talk seriously. Please, come on, open the door! I know your in there! Your supposed to stay in the med lab!"  
  
Nathan shut his eyes, now completely ignoring his friend. He pushed the blanket covering him, staying in a sideways position in his bed even if he was dieing to sleep on his stomach. He couldn't afford letting his wound get even more damage.  
  
He looked on the little side table next to his bed, more precisely at a clock that now showed nine thirty in the morning. He heard his stomach rumble, a proof of the imminent hunger ravaging through his abdomen. In normal time, he would have already been up in the kitchen, eating with the rest of them, but now, he couldn't erase the faces he had seen back in the dinning hall the previous day. The look he knew everyone was going to give him from now on.  
  
A few minutes passed and Max must have left because the pounding stopped and no sound could be heard from the hallway. After a while, Nathan realized that he must have left to go get someone else to try and open his door. That person was Rogue.  
  
"Nathan?" she said with her calm and comforting voice. "Can you let me in, please?"  
  
For first, she wasn't knocking on the door while talking.  
  
"Ya know, the others are all wondering if you're all right," she continued. "Can you at least prove to me that you're okay, and then I'll leave you alone?"  
  
Nathan didn't move from his bed, just listening. Somehow, her voice relieved him.  
  
"Okay, then should I go get Kitty to walk through the door to check on you?" she said.  
  
Nathan's eyes widened a little. He didn't want Kitty to see him like that. Not at all.  
  
He growled lowly as he got out of his bed. Scratching his head with one hand, holding his bandaged chest with the other, he walked to the door, and leaned on it.  
  
"I don't want to see anyone right now, Rogue," he said.  
  
"I don't think that's the truth," Rogue answered through the door. "I think you just don't want anyone to see *you*."  
  
Nathan smiled a little. She was smart.  
  
Knowing that she wouldn't go away until she was satisfied, Nathan reluctantly unlocked the door, and opened it just a little. Before he could stop her, Rogue pushed it open and walked in. She shut the door behind her.  
  
"Man!" she exclaimed. "It's so dark in here!"  
  
With that, she walked to the window and pushed open the curtains. Immediately, a strong light filled the whole room. Nathan hadn't looked up since she had entered, but now he was even more uncomfortable.  
  
She turned around from the window and he could feel her looking at him. At first, he kept his eyes on the floor then on the sides, but always avoiding looking at her even if he wondered what would be her stare when looking right into his eyes. She didn't move, and Nate didn't want to check at what she was looking. He started fidgeting uncomfortably, playing with his earring.  
  
After some moment, he saw her feet walk towards him and stop right in front of him.  
  
Unable to do anything else, he looked up cautiously to her face, noticing that she was a little smaller than him.  
  
She was smiling a little, a look of undefined look of sympathy, curiosity and straight understanding in her eyes. She raised her right hand, gloved as always and reached for his face, pushing away a wisp of his hair that fell across his forehead.  
  
"I . . . I find it looks good on you," she said, looking at his eyes. "It's nice," she added, trying to hide her cheeks going red.  
  
Nathan's eyes widened and he tried to hide his embarrassment. He looked down.  
  
"Well, at least you like it," he said. "I mean, now everyone will know I'm a mutant."  
  
"Don't be ashamed of that," Rogue said. "I thought the same thing when I got my white streaks of hair, but I kind of like it, now. It shows that you're different, but you should look at it in a positive way. At least your skin didn't change colour and you didn't grow scales. Some mutants even grow fur, or something even worse happens."  
  
Nathan smiled weakly and walked away a bit, looking out the window. He saw Rogue from the corner of his eyes, looking around his room.  
  
"Are these your parents?" she asked, pointing at one of the pictured on his table.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "Did your parents kick you out of your family when you became a mutant?"  
  
" . . . No," Rogue answered. "I ran away."  
  
"Don't you find its inhuman to turn against your kid when something happens to him, when he's in most in need of their support?"  
  
"Yes, but it's also because they're scared," Rogue answered, looking around at his things.  
  
Nathan just mumbled something incoherent, then noticed that his portable computer, right next to Rogue, was showing the list of things his clients needed him to get during the next month. He walked not too discretely to it and shut it off.  
  
"What was that?" Rogue asked, seeing what he had done.  
  
"Work I've been doing," Nate lied, vaguely pointing towards his science books.  
  
"You like science?" Rogue asked, opening one of the covers of one of the books.  
  
" . . . Yeah," Nate said. "But my favourite class in school was history."  
  
"Yes, Ororo gives history classes here," Rogue said. "Are you going to stay?"  
  
There was a moment of silence as Nathan turned away from her.  
  
"I don't know," he said finally. "I'm not sure yet."  
  
Rogue looked unsatisfied, but she tried to hide it the best she could.  
  
"Well then, I'll leave you alone," Rogue said, walking slowly to the door, followed by Nate.  
  
She turned the handle, opened it a little bit, but left it ajar, turning back to face Nathan.  
  
"There's just one thing I have to tell you before I leave, though," she said, looking more at the floor than towards Nathan. "I wanted to thank you for what you did at the docks. If it wasn't for you, I think I'd be dead by now."  
  
With that, she looked up at him, smiled and then did something that not many people had ever received from Rogue. She placed one of her hands on one of his cheeks and kissed the other for barely a second, not wanting to steal the energy he needed to help nurse his wound.  
  
"Than you," she said, walking out of the door and closing it behind her.  
  
A few seconds later, Nathan still hadn't moved as a little smile formed on his lips before he thought of Kitty, then of Rogue again.  
  
"Nathan," he said, talking to himself. "You're in deep deep shit."  
  
***  
  
Walking down the hallway, Rogue kept both her hands clamped on her face, a wide smile on her face. Not exactly looking at where she was going, she ended up on the second floor. She walked around there for a while, then decided to go back to her dorm room. Jubilee and Kitty were there when she entered and she tried to be not too suspicious, but it didn't work and both her roommates noticed that something good had happened to her. Kitty somehow didn't seem too happy.  
  
"What happened?" Jubilee asked. "You talked to him? Did you see him?"  
  
Rogue just nodded positively still smiling to herself.  
  
`"Well, what happened?" Jubilee continued.  
  
"Nothing, nothing," Rogue said vaguely. "We just talked."  
  
Kitty looked at her suspiciously for a few moments, then went back to talking to Jubilee, glancing once in a while in Rogue's direction, seeing that she was still smiling, gloved hands on her red cheeks.  
  
**********  
  
Yeah. Nate's in deep shit. He doesn't like breaking hearts. 


	25. A client's special demand

Chapter 25.  
  
This was getting a bit 'normal'. I want to put him back in the place of criminal again. He still is a young criminal, and in this chapter, I try to put that in evidence.  
  
Okay, now this chapter took me some time to do and I want you to know that what you are going to read is not just invented, but those weapons truly exist. Now, I invented that the Russian empire is, like, humongous HUGE. A very very powerful country (military forces . . . weapons and all the other bla bla). Put that in your head while reading this chapter.  
  
By the way, this chapter is slightly a bit a lot . . . euh, bizarre and far fetched.  
  
**********  
  
Walking down the hall, Nathan had finally decided to go out of his room after having figured out that it couldn't be that bad if he just avoided eye contact.  
  
He was wearing his usual pair of baggy jeans, a long sleeved shirt and his fang necklace. He was also holding his trench coat with one hand, his other occupied by a shoulder bag. Some people would have find it strange to see someone with a trench coat when it was nearly July, but it wasn't really because all summer was expected to be relatively cold in the state of New York. The coat, the bag and the pair of blue-lensed sunglasses on the top of his head all clearly indicated that he was going somewhere. All the students were in class by now, and so he didn't risk being seen by anyone. He had heard that they might all go out during the afternoon, on an outing somewhere in New York. This was good news because this way, Max would be occupied and wouldn't go back to his room and notice that he was gone. The only real problem was the professor who would most probably ask questions. I mean, he was a psychic after all.  
  
He passed the green house Ororo was using as a class, glimpsing inside to see Max sitting next to Bobby and John, and they were visibly having more fun in talking than paying attention to Storm's class. Nathan smiled. At least his friend was happy. When they had left Ontario together, he had been afraid that his friend wouldn't like life on the road. But he was happy.  
  
"If I leave, at least he'll be safe and in a good place," Nathan thought soberly.  
  
He spotted Kitty and Rogue in the back of the class, sitting on either side of Jubilee. Both were taking notes and paying no attention whatsoever to anything else. His smile slowly faded away.  
  
Girls. Always a problem when there is more than one.  
  
He sighed, before walking pass the door and continuing his way. His objective was to arrive in the garage without being seen, take his car and go down town to exchange it against another one. Keeping the same car for too long wasn't his style. He had to change it every five to six weeks. Sometimes, it was because it was a stolen car, but that's another matter.  
  
He arrived in the garage without any major problem and spotted his car rather easily. He took a few minutes to admire some of Scott's, or rather the school's, cars and then opened the garage door, admiring his own car for a moment before putting on his sunglasses and jumping into the driver's seat. He pushed a CD in the CD player and drove off towards the school property's gates. They opened immediately at his car's approach, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator the second he was on the street, the wheels leaving a long black trail behind him.  
  
"Time to relax, and work," he said to himself, opening his car window. "New York, here I come."  
  
***  
  
Nate arrived in New York around noon. He went directly to a car dealer he knew very well, and exchanged his BMW for a Porsche. He had chosen it red.  
  
After that, he decided to go have a hot dog because, first of all, he didn't want to take off his sunglasses to freak people out, so he couldn't go into a restaurant, and second of all, eating outside something not expensive was a good deal.  
  
It was to say, being alone and knowing that he wouldn't be deranged let him think much more clearly. He spent a few hours in Central Park, walking around and thinking about his friends, his mutation and his future.  
  
In the middle of the after noon, he decided to go to the museum. Museums had become his favourite outing place at a very young age, when his mother had brought him to an art and statue exposition, back in Ontario. He had just plain loved it. He had kept visiting some over the years, and he had often visited this museum when he had stayed in New York, with Max.  
  
Walking into the tourist-filled marble hall, he went directly towards the painting section. He admired many before finally choosing to sit on a bench, in the impressionist gallery, in front of Monet's Lilly Pond painting. He looked at it for a very long time without doing really anything, paying no attention to the old folks passing by, wondering if he was the last teenager on earth to admire a painting. Slowly, he took out a CD player and headphones, then a sketch book and a pencil. Looking at the Monet again, he turned on his discman, looked at his sheet of white paper and started drawing, copying the image in front of him.  
  
While doing that, he thought, barely listening to his music, completely ignoring the people around him.  
  
Fiteen minutes passed as he just kept looking at his sheet of paper and the painting in front of him. Occasionally, he looked around the room, just verifying that everything was clear and that no one was going to bother him.  
  
***  
  
Looking at his watch, Nathan saw that it was almost four o'clock. He looked bat his drawing, which was worthy of great respect. The image was very well copied, even if unfinished.  
  
Nathan really wanted to stay longer in the museum, but his clients were probably already waiting. He didn't like making them wait, because he was always risking to loose a deal.  
  
Nathan reluctantly rose from his seat, picked up his bag and his cloak that he had placed next to him. He walked quickly towards the nearest exit, slipping his glasses in front of his eyes.  
  
He stopped in front of the statue section, wanting to get a glimpse of one of their new treasures: a magnificent horse dating from the Persian heir, from 600 before Christ. It was a splendid statue, even if a part of it's face had been damaged through the years.  
  
Many tourists surrounded Nathan as he tried to get a clearer view of the beast. Suddenly, while nearly reaching the red cord separating the exposition from the visitors, Nathan saw a couple of familiar faces on the other side of the statue, talking with one of the guards. He was sure he had seen those two stocky men, around the age of forty, wearing identical suits. Shaking his head, Nathan turned around and started walking towards the exit.  
  
He walked outside of the museum, and skirted on the sidewalk towards his car's parking space, about half a block away. When he arrived to his car, he just entered it, beeped at a taxi and zoomed in front of him before he could pass his parked car. He could almost see the taxi man's white face as he passed millimetres from an accident. The taxi started beeping furiously and Nathan just smiled wickedly.  
  
It faded away as soon as the beeping stopped. Why had he done that? In normal time, he just would have waited his turn to pass into the road, but now, he just felt like breaking every driving rule he knew. Just for fun.  
  
"I'm still here," a voice reminded him in his head, making him frown.  
  
He turned on the CD player, putting the music extremely loud, just to block out the voice. He had noticed that he could only hear it when there was silence for too long or when he thought of it, and when he did, the only thing that would make the voice inaudible was music, put full blast. It was another reason he was beginning to like going out of the school. He couldn't put the music too high in his room because of everyone else in the school.  
  
It took Nathan about ten minutes to arrive up to the library, and five more minutes to find a parking place where he knew no one would steal his car. Finally, he jogged up the library's main steps and pushed open one of the large oak doors.  
  
There was only one word for this place. Huge.  
  
Filled with straightly lined wooden bookshelves only reaching half way to the ceiling. There were ladders, also made of wood, there to facilitate the books on higher shelves' reach. There were balconies on either side of the room, on which were even more shelves filled with pilled up books.  
  
Nathan walked up to the front desk, behind which an old lady sat, her greyish white hair tied in a tight French pleat. Her clothes, like herself, were clean, proper and strict. She looked up from her work and looked at the boy in front of her, giving him a 'why-are-you-actually-coming-in-a- library-you-spoiled-brat' look.  
  
"Hello, could you tell me where I could find the computer room?" he asked, without taking off his glasses, chewing his gum.  
  
"Follow the medical aisle then turn left in the second history aisle. It's at the end," the lady said, going back to her work.  
  
"Thank you," Nathan said briskly as he started walking in the designated direction.  
  
He arrived there a few minutes later, forced to stop in the science row to verify if there was not a new mutant gene book he could read, trying to get as much information, as always.  
  
"I'd like to go on the Internet for maybe twenty minutes," he said to the man watching the computer room. "How much would that cost?"  
  
"Three fifty," the man said. "Take the fourth cubicle on your right."  
  
Nathan looked around as he started walking.  
  
What was fun in this computer room was that everyone was placed in their own cubicle and could do anything they wanted without being watched. The cubicles, unlike everything made of wood, back in the library, were of white plastic and seemed brand new.  
  
Nate sat in his chair in front of the computer in the fourth cubicle. He pressed the Internet logo and a page flicked up. He typed an address in the specified line and another page replaced the first one, showing the main page of a chat room. He entered his user name and code and entered one of the multiple chat rooms.  
  
One of his clients was there.  
  
He was code-named Alcatraz. He was another one of Mother Russia's street- born rebels working against their government. He was actually doing a good job in trying to liberate his country from the dominant dictator, Ivan Carlovesky who was literally freezing his people to death by rising the heating price. He used the country's force to exchange great weaponry with other countries, illegally. No one had enough proof to set him down, and he couldn't be removed from his governmental status. There were too many signed papers proving that he was Russia's main ruler, and it was to say, what he was doing with the country's great forces was terrible. Terrorists could bargain with him for his military hardware, which was one of the most developed in the world.  
  
After months of coaxing people on the Internet, Nate had arrived to make one of his part time colleagues hack into the chat room to identify who Alcatraz really was, and he realized that Silent Night was working for him. His name was Michael Romanov, the son of a commoner living in Moscow, wining his life as a politic secretary for the government. We guess it is from his father that Michael got to know so much about what was going on with his country's political affairs. Alcatraz had seven younger brothers and four sisters, that all followed him into the depths of anarchism after his father's murder when he was eighteen. He brought his mother to London, where he helped her take care of his family. Once his father's name was almost completely forgotten when he was twenty-five, he returned to Moscow with one of his brothers, carrying very important details of his country's affairs of state. Scared, the government sent people to murder him, but he escaped with a bullet in the back. Once he was nursed back to health, he gathered people together, creating an anarchist group trying to infiltrate the Russian Maffia to let his country regain a certain composure. It was nearly drowning in criminal activities, and Michael wanted to remedy this.  
  
Nate also discovered that three of Alcatraz's sisters were secret agents working for the KGB, but were actually under-cover agents for their brother. Nate knew that if the KGB discovered who they really were, they would be executed.  
  
The rest of his brothers were all with him, except for two who had died under the government's bullets. The two other sisters were secretaries at the government by day, part of Michael's rebel group by night.  
  
Michael was now married and had three children. Nate supposed that his family was in Germany, France or England, because he kept moving around these countries, Moscow being too dangerous for himself and his people.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
My country's government is now exchanging weaponry with Iraq ad Israel, to use against the American or English forces without they, or Russia's knowing. In order to prevent a great conflict, I must ask your help once again.  
  
Alcatraz  
  
Nathan read the message quickly, not very surprised by the news. Iraq, Israel and other Arabic counties were all against the three countries that had brought them down (U.S., England, Russia) . He replied  
  
Alcatraz,  
  
Talk. I am listening.  
  
Bait Hunter  
  
Less than a minute later, there was a fairly long response that appeared in Nathan's screen.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
I have depended on you several times for numerous things that have helped me greatly. Fake identities, papers or even sophisticated machines, all you could provide. For that, I can only guess that you have great power or a remarkably psychologically gifted criminal mastermind, or even both.  
  
Now, what I am going to ask you might be considered as a far greater thing to ask, and I would understand if you couldn't provide it to us. But if it's greater, you know that the money is too.  
  
What I need is your help, and knowledge.  
  
I am a revolutionist, and I want to bring back my country to power, as it was a decade ago. For that, I must destroy Carlovesky's foces, because he is the one causing so much damage to my country. I cannot simply kill him, because his son, an even more dangerous tyrant would be given the power. I need to scare them, give them a lesson and bring back Mother Russia, saving her from both Carlovesky and Iraq. Iraq could turn back on their allies, Carlovesky, and bombard Moscow.  
  
I have a plan, but I will greatly need your help. I have discovered twenty two secret military bases across Russia, that Carlovesky has activated, for the trade with the south and for other things that I am not aware of. One of these bases, located near Siberia, holds five of the most potent weapon of the Russian arsenal. I am talking about MIG-25s.  
  
I intend to get those weapons, and others similar to them to destroy the other bases, and force Carlovsky out of power.  
  
I need your help for that.  
  
Alcatraz  
  
Nathan removed his sunglasses that he had kept for some reason, and re-read the message, feeling his mouth go dry.  
  
"Holy Shit," he whispered to himself, leaning in his chair, staring at the screen. This was a very big job. Maybe even too big for a teenager like him. He typed a response, just to see if what he thought MIG-25s are.  
  
Alcatraz,  
  
When you say MIG-25s, you mean that you intend to steal, right under the government's nose, five twin-engine jets Missile-launching planes with the speed of Mach 2,8 , capable of ceiling up to 80,000 ft. and capable of carrying 4,400 lbs. As you said, the most potent weapon of the Russian arsenal, one of the most sophisticated military jets in the world.  
  
Bait Hunter  
  
Nathan waited incredulously for a response to that.  
  
Bait Hunter,  
  
Yes. I see you know a lot about military weaponry, and so I am unafraid to add that we also intend to use a multiple orbit bombardment system which is a weapons system utilizing warhead-carrying satellites. For that we will use long-range missiles with multiple warheads that can be targeted separately.  
  
I can assure you that those weapons are only used for the good of my country.  
  
Alcatraz  
  
Now Nathan was nearly as white as his cubicle's wall. This was a very very very big deal. It took him another few minutes to regain composure and write back.  
  
Alcatraz,  
  
You intend to use ICBMs to neutralize completely Carlovsky's forces. I guess you have already located his other bases in the surrounding countries? If for that, I must remind you that ICMBs are to be taken very seriously. You don't want an intercontinental ballistic missile to land at the wrong place. And second of all, ICBMs are extremely well protected by their countries. I mean, there is a system for those nuclear missiles. We never know where they are. They are constantly moved so to avoid providing a knowable target.  
  
Bait Hunter  
  
Nathan got a response, explaining further on Alcatraz's plan. He was offering eighty millions for Nate's help, and if made Nathan sigh with depression as he didn't even know that he was only eighteen! He responded that he needed time to think about all of this. Alcatraz gave him two months to decide if he was in.  
  
Nathan disconnected his computer and exited his cubicle. It was clearly visibly that he was in a shock trance since even the man taking care of the computer room asked him if he was all right.  
  
Nathan walked back to his car, almost forgetting to put back his sunglasses. He drove back to the school and went up to his room without being asked any question by anyone. They were almost all out to the movies or something.  
  
He locked himself in his room a sudden headache taking him again as he tried to think clearly about what had happened in the chat room. He knew he was too young and inexperienced to get into all of that mess. If he got in, he couldn't get out but it looked . . . somewhat fun. Exciting. All Nathan wished t have.  
  
The voice started in his head again.  
  
"I am you . . . we are the same self . . . I am going to get you . . . use you . . . twist you the way I please . . . I know you know you want to help Alcatraz . . . be in the action . . . kill . . . admit it . . . you love to kill . . . and I tell you, some one here is going to die . . . maybe because of you . . . I will take over you . . ."  
  
"Shut up!" Nathan yelled grabbing the side of his head.  
  
No. I want peace. I want quiet. I want my life back, the way it was before you came . . . the voice, always the voice. He was sick of it.  
  
A long time after, he fell asleep with two words in his head: Kitty . . . Rogue . . . Kitty . . . Rogue . . .  
  
**********  
  
A bit far fetched with the Russian thing, maybe? What do *you* think?  
  
For those who are history lovers, like me, and realized that Michael Romanov was the name of a real Russian Czar . . . in 1613. I liked the name, so I used it. 


	26. boy's talk

Hello, everyone. I want to thank all of those who review, you know I love it.  
  
**********  
  
A black void, as always.  
  
The mind.  
  
Such an obscure place.  
  
You're conscience, you're dreams, wishes, thoughts and ideas. All in there, in your mind. For once, Nate had slept without hearing the voice, but himself, repeating names. The voice had said he was going to kill someone.  
  
In his dream, he had seen Rogue . . . or was it Kitty?  
  
Well, the young woman had been killed, one of his daggers planted in the heart.  
  
Nate woke up with a scream, sweating heavily. Raised in an upward position in his bed, he stared at the opposite wall, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"You should try to control your thoughts, buddy," he heard a voice say to his right.  
  
Nate turned his head, looking in the voice's direction, thus, towards his table next to his window. Max was sitting on it, looking through one of his high school picture albums. He didn't look up in Nate's direction. "Man," he exclaimed, as he flipped one of the pages. "That was when we won our first basketball match, remember? . . . and here, at the science fair . . . You dork, you won nearly all the prizes."  
  
"Max, how did you get in here?" Nate asked, slightly alarmed of seeing his friend sitting crossed legged on his table.  
  
"The window," Max indicated. "I flew in from the ground."  
  
Nate sighed a bit, still catching his breath. Max looked up, leaning on the wall, looking at him an odd way. Nathan looked away, thinking of his eyes again. He sighed heavily.  
  
"And do you mind telling me what you want?" he asked, slightly irritated.  
  
Maxim glared.  
  
"Nathan Cage, for God's sake, can't I even come and see you anymore?" he yelled. "What the hell is your problem? I know you've been through a lot, and now that some of us are willing to help you, you refuse and lock yourself up in self-pitying! You embarrass me! Look what you've become: from a strong-minded, intelligent boy with a future, to a weepy kid unable to pull himself together and face reality!"  
  
Nathan's eyes furrowed as he glared at Max in a most dangerous way. Before he knew it, he was on his feet, his hands in fists, ready to beat the crap out of him. His eyes widened as he stopped his fist inches from Max's face.  
  
Max had dropped the high school album and it had fell to the floor with a large thud, scared by Nate's reaction, Max had backed up on the table and had pushed a few things off, who all fell crashing to the floor. Shaking, he was holding his forearms in front of his face, pulling back his knees.  
  
Nathan's eyes widened with fear, fear of himself. He was hearing the voice, laughing quietly in his mind. Nate grabbed his head backing away from the table.  
  
"Yeah . . . yes, you're right," he started mumbling. "I think . . . I don't think I can do this anymore . . ."  
  
Max didn't move for a while, waiting for his friend to do something.  
  
"And first of all, you don't even know how it feels to be the way I am!" Nate shouted, becoming himself again.  
  
"What?" Max said, jumping to the floor. " 'The way you feel!' " he mocked. "At least, I don't go around saying that I'm a criminal."  
  
It took a few moments for Nathan to understand what his friend had said, but he got the message. Max hadn't believed him when saying that he was a criminal. He had taken it for a joke. Well, Nate thought there was no point of telling him it was real.  
  
"And you took that joke seriously?" Nathan lied. "You didn't realize it was a joke?"  
  
"Well, now I see it's just bullshit!" Max blurted out.  
  
The verbal fight went on for more than half and hour, as Max insulted everything he hated from Nate, and he doing the same thing about his friend. The fight got louder and many students stopped by Nate's door, hearing all the shouting, but they were always shooed away by the professor who used his power to make sure the two boys weren't interrupted. He knew they needed to yell at each other, just to let everything out. In the end, he knew the result was going to be positive, and as always, he was right. After what seemed to be hours to them, the two boys had a long moment of silence, not knowing what to say, and insult next. They looked at each other for a moment, not speaking, and involuntarily, they both smiled. The looked at themselves like that for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.  
  
After many minutes of uninterrupted laugh, Nathan looked up blankly to Max.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, exactly at the same time as his friend.  
  
The sat down, shaking their heads as they noticed what stupid thing they had just done. They talked a little, when finally, Max started talking about the first thing he had intended to say to his friend, when flying up to his window.  
  
"Listen, I . . ." he started. "You know I want to stay here. I want to finish school . . . and control my power. I probably also want to become an X-Men. I . . . I want to know what you're going to do. I'm not asking you to tell me right now, but, could you at least give me an answer tomorrow?"  
  
Nate stayed silent again, as if he had his head in the clouds.  
  
"Yes," he said finally. "Tomorrow."  
  
"Fine then," Max said.  
  
After an awkward moment of silence, Max walked to the door.  
  
"I know it's stupid to tell you this, be careful of your choices," he said, before closing the door, leaving Nate.  
  
***  
  
An entire hour passed without Nate moving from his spot. He was thinking. His parents back in Ontario . . . his studies at school . . . his criminal activities . . . his clients . . . the job with the Russians . . . his friends . . . the school . . . his mutation . . .  
  
Seeing his clock blinking nearly noon, he got dressed with clean clothes, changed the bandage on his wound and finally, got out of his room.  
  
He walked to the library where he wanted to look up for books on Russia.  
  
Looking in the shelves, his head tilted on one side to read the titles or the books starting with the letter 'r', he heard footsteps coming his way, but ignored them mumbling the titles in his head. A book on Rumania, another on ruminants, then a few on ancient ruins, a few novels and finally, a book simply called 'Russia'. He took it in his hands and decided to also take the next one, entitled 'Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic'. It was then he noticed that the footsteps had stopped, and he looked up to see who was standing in front of him. His heart jumped.  
  
Kitty.  
  
As beautiful as she could look, her brown hair simply brushing her elbows, being held back by a few clips, yet a few bangs falling across her forehead, her fair skin, blue eyes and naturally red lips. She was wearing a simple red tank top and a pair of black jeans. To Nate's eyes, she was a goddess.  
  
"Hi," she said with a shy smile.  
  
"Wa-. . . euh. . . y- . . . hi, Kitty," Nathan mumbled, looking down a little.  
  
"Are you feeling better?" she asked, her hands behind her back.  
  
"Ah. . . yes," he said, looking back up. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to sound natural.  
  
"Looking for you, actually," she said. "I wanted to talk to you."  
  
"You did?" he asked, genuinely surprised for no reason at all.  
  
"Well, we used to talk before," she said, embarrassed by his reaction. "I don't see why we should stop."  
  
There was a moment of silence, and Nathan smiled, looking straight in her eyes. She blushed, and Nate's smile widened.  
  
***  
  
Nate and Kitty talked a while, about the school, about some of the students, about music, movies and T.V, therefore having a normal conversation, as they had always done since Nate had arrived at the school. They ate lunch together, still talking about an extended group of things.  
  
Kitty left to her danger room class in the afternoon, and Nate started reading the books he had taken from the library. At the end of the day, he started thinking about the answer he was supposed to give to Max the next day, but he realized that he had known the answer the whole time.  
  
**********  
  
Nate + Kitty = ?something going on?  
  
What about Rogue?  
  
:) 


	27. Lucky Winner

Well . . . chapter 27.  
  
**********  
  
The next morning, Nate woke up extra early, got cleaned and dressed then went down to the gym, with the idea of working out before everyone else woke up.  
  
He entered the very large gym, passed the trampoline, the trapeze, ropes and other gymnastic equipment and walked further in the back, where there were kickboxing things like punching bags and a small arena. He stretched for a while, keeping an eye on the clock on the opposite wall where he could read five a.m. Very quickly, he started practicing his fighting tricks.  
  
Ten minutes later, he was already sweating heavily and gasping for air. He had a pretty strong feeling that his work out wasn't doing any good to his wound.  
  
"You should try backing up a little from your opponent," he heard a voice say behind him.  
  
He turned around and saw Logan, fully dressed, leaning on one of the gymnastic equipments, watching his moves. From Nate's guess, he had been there for a couple of minutes.  
  
"Your kick would be higher and stronger," Logan continued. "And you would loose less energy by giving one good blow, than multiple smaller ones."  
  
Nate stayed silent for a while.  
  
"Thanks," he said finally. "You fight?"  
  
He had some sort of a grumble for answer, followed by a more articulate one.  
  
"Yeah," Logan said, walking forward a little. "I guess you could say that."  
  
Nathan kicked the sand filled bag, backing up a little like Logan had told him to do. When he looked back at the older man, he looked satisfied.  
  
"So, what's your decision, kid?" the Wolverine asked, getting a blank stare for an answer. "Max told us at dinner that you were going to tell him what you're going to do."  
  
Nate's eyebrows cocked up as he looked up at the ceiling, shaking his head.  
  
"He can't keep anything to himself that one," he muttered to himself, unaware that Logan could hear what he was saying tanks to his heightened senses. "I think I'm going to go see the professor afterwards to tell him my answer."  
  
He punched the bag again.  
  
"How's your wound?" Logan asked, pulling out a cigar from his pocket.  
  
"Boff . . . not too bad, I suppose," Nate said.  
  
"Good," Wolverine said as he lit his cigar with a lighter he found in his other pocket. "Then get on that ring and show me what ya got."  
  
Nate smiled as they both walked to the ring.  
  
***  
  
An hour later, both Logan and Nate were walking to the kitchen, sweating like pigs, laughing and talking. They ate breakfast , and afterwards, Nate left to go talk to the professor.  
  
***  
  
Nate walked back up to his room where he took a quick shower and changed into cleaner clothes. Afterwards, he walked resolutely up to the professor's office, passing a few early birds on his way down. He looked at his watch and read seven in the morning. A bit early to go talk to the professor, but Logan had affirmed that he was up at that time.  
  
He knocked softly on the door, and waited for a response that came soon afterwards. He opened the door and walked in, glancing at the professor behind his large desk.  
  
"Hello, Nathan," he said with a small smile. "How are you feeling today?"  
  
"Very well, thank you," Nathan said, responding to the smile.  
  
"What can I do for you?" the Professor said, motioning him to a seat.  
  
"I was wondering, professor, if you would accept another student," Nathan said, his eyes glowing maliciously.  
  
The professor's smile widened.  
  
*****  
  
Twenty minutes later, Nathan walked out of the professor's office holding a folder in which were papers about the school, and everything that was going on.  
  
He walked directly to the dorm hallway and knocked on the fourth door to his right, in the boys' corridor, which was Max's dorm. He opened the door, and looked at Nathan expectantly.  
  
"I'm staying here," Nate said, smiling.  
  
Maxim sighed, a wide smile curving on his lips.  
  
"Ah new you would," he said, shaking his head. "But come on, let's go for a walk."  
  
Nate dropped the file of papers in his room on his way out, and followd Maxim to the first floor, then out the door, into the grounds. They walked in silence for a long time, both savouring this moment of calmness and peace. It was Max who broke the silence first.  
  
"So, tell me," he started. "What pushed you to stay?"  
  
Nathan didn't answer.  
  
"It's not in your nature to decide to stay in one place," Max continued, occasionally looking in his friend's direction.  
  
"Someone said . . . If you don't know where you stand within yourself, where does that leave you? . . . When you stand centered in your own space, it will become clear what your choices are and which ones you make," Nate said calmly. "I . . . I found where my space is."  
  
Max said nothing.  
  
"Max . . . I think I found someone," Nate continued, looking at the ground.  
  
Maxim smiled, but tried to hide it.  
  
"I . . . I'm just so smitten about this girl, you won't believe," Nate said, crossing his hands behind his head.  
  
Max chuckled.  
  
"And who is the lucky winner?" he asked.  
  
"Katherine Pryde," Nathan said softly.  
  
Nathan could almost feel Max frown.  
  
"But . . . I heard Rogue was the one that liked you?" he asked.  
  
Nathan slowed his pace even more, sighing deeply.  
  
"Yeah . . . but I love Kitty," he said sadly. "What am I going to say to her?"  
  
"First of all, you have to talk to her about it, because it'll hurt more if she sees you with Kitty while she's thinking about you," Maxim said. "But what you're going to say to her, I have no idea."  
  
Nathan sighed.  
  
"This isn't good."  
  
"Duh," Max approved. "When that sort of thing happened to me, I didn't have time to say two word, and she thought I was asking her on a date. It was terrrrrrible."  
  
"Yeah, I remember," Nate said. "But I guess I have to do it."  
  
"My opinion would be to go tell her right away before going out with the other one," Max said. "Definitely."  
  
"Euh, Max?" Nate asked, looking away. "Kitty doesn't know."  
  
Maxim burst out laughing.  
  
"What are you WAITING for?" he said.  
  
"Just give me time, my God," Nate objected. "I've been through a lot, I'm allowed to take a little break."  
  
"Nope. Now that you're a student, you're going to see both of them nearly 24/7. You need to get this sorted out fast."  
  
Nate sighed again.  
  
"Okay," he said finally. "I'll go talk to Rogue tomorrow."  
**********  
  
now, how am I going to make Rogue react? Kill Kitty? . . . Euh, no. I don't think so. 


	28. Only Friends

Not too much action in this or the next chapter, but it's coming. I've decided how 'A life Worth Living' is going to end, and I'm happy about that. I don't really think that you readers are going to like it too much, though, because it's going to make you wait a little for the SEQUEL. Yep, I'm already thinking about that, but 'A life worth living' still needs some working on. There will be a few major important things happening.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 28:  
  
Nathan ate with the others that night. He sympathised for the first time with Bobby and Pyro, and most of all, didn't let himself listen to the little voice, still humming in his head. After supper, he preferred avoiding Kitty or Rogue and went outside with the boys for a Basketball match. After that, there were a few 'power battles' that the kids gave out on the grounds, but Nathan preferred looking at them fight, then join in himself. He wanted to forget his mutation just for some time. He noticed that Kitty would have liked to talk to him a couple of times, but he would start talking to other boys for her to go away without her knowing that he knew she was there. At first, he thought this would upset her too much, but he had realized that she would just go back talking to Jubilee and other girls, probably thinking she would have the opportunity to talk to him later. Rogue, on the other hand, stayed away with her free will, even trying not to look in Nate's direction.  
  
Around ten, the students were told to go to bed and Nate rushed to his room before Kitty or someone else could talk to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Kitty, it was more that he was growing more and more fond of her, and couldn't accept the idea that maybe she wouldn't feel the same way, and that scared him.  
  
He slept relatively well that night, savouring the thought that he was in a place out of harm's way, a place he could call home.  
  
~~~  
  
The next morning, Nate woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door.  
  
"Get up, Nathan!" he heard Jean shout from the other side of the door. "Don't you be late for you're first class!"  
  
Nathan jumped out of bed, thinking that class was starting very soon. He looked at his clock and read seven o'clock. Classes weren't starting before nine. He sighed with relief before frowning as he waked to the door that he opened to walk out. Jean was knocking on another door, a few metres away.  
  
"Jean?" he said, shacking his head. "What was that for? Do you do this every morning?"  
  
She chuckled at the sight of his reluctant pose, his uncombed hair and sleepy look.  
  
"Yeah," Jean said. "It's the wakeup call."  
  
Nate walked back into his room, still shaking his head. He was tempted to go back to sleep, but he knew he might as well stay up, so he decided to take his shower. After that, he got dressed and walked down to the kitchen where he found Bobby, John and Max sitting at a table. He joined them and ate breakfast as a student, before spotting Kitty at another table and remembering he had to talk to Rogue. He didn't want to imagine her getting the news, but she had too one way or another. At eight thirty, he went looking for her around the school, but no one had seen her. At nine, he was still looking when he was told to go to class. Talking to her would have to wait.  
  
~~~  
  
His first class was history, with Ororo in the greenhouse. It was the first time he actually entered the glasshouse, and it was to say, he was impressed. The place was simply magnificent, the tables placed in a semi- circle surrounded by hundreds of plants all taken care of by Storm herself. There was a long movable chalkboard on which were already written a few words and dates on the Renaissance. Ororo wasn't in yet and Nate had the time to settle down with the other boys and talk a bit before she came in, holding a pack of papers in her left hand.  
  
"Okay, everyone," she said, a smile on her face. "Calm down and take a seat."  
  
Slowly, the students obeyed and they all took a seat in some of the chairs. He noticed that Rogue still wasn't there, and that bothered him. Why wasn't she in class?  
  
She actually arrived in the middle of the class and seated herself beside Jubilee without even a glance at Nathan, and he decided that he would do better to concentrate on the class, about Michelangelo and François the first. The class passed surprisingly fast and at the end, Nate's courage for talking to Rogue disappeared into thin air. Taking himself together, he walked to her once Jubilee and Kitty had left her alone to take her things.  
  
"Hi, Rogue," he said. -Damn, I shouldn't have started like that,- he thought. "I need to talk to you about something."  
  
"Yah, okay," Rogue said, a small smile on her lips. "Can it wait for after lunch? I promised Bobby I would eat with him."  
  
A gigantic weight flew off his heart, as an unwanted smile appeared on his features.  
  
"Sure!" he said, slightly too enthusiastic.  
  
"Great, then see you later," she said, walking out.  
  
Nathan sighed once she was further away.  
  
~~~  
  
Nathan entered the cafeteria ignoring the looks some of the students were giving him, and walked directly to Max who was talking to a pretty girl with dark purple hair. He pulled him away.  
  
"Max, She's going out with Bobby!" he said.  
  
"Who? Kitty?" Max exclaimed. "Ah, man, don't worry about it. We'll just kick his a-"  
  
"Not Kitty! Rogue!" Nate said, shaking his head.  
  
"Ah," Max said, his determined look changing to a comfortable one. "Then she doesn't like you, so you don't need to talk-"  
  
"Well, yes I do," Nate said. "But it's going to be better that way."  
  
"Yeah. Now, can I go back to my business?" he asked, vaguely pointing back at the purple haired girl.  
  
Nate chuckled. "Yeah, go."  
  
Nathan sat next to John and a French boy with red eyes playing poker with another boy. They ate hamburgers and French fries for lunch, and afterwards, some of the students went into the gardens for recess. Others went to the library or their dorm rooms, but Nate preferred going outside. There he found Rogue, sitting alone on one of the benches under a group of trees, not too far from the basketball court. He walked to her.  
  
"How was your lunch?" he said to start the conversation.  
  
"Ah, very well," she said. "So, you're staying as a student, hum?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, sitting next to her. "I think it's a good choice."  
  
"So that way you can stay with Kitty," Rogue said calmly.  
  
Nathan's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. She was just sitting there, a little impish smile on her face. She didn't look bothered at all.  
  
"Wa- . . . how? . . . but-," he tried to said something, but the words couldn't come out.  
  
"Cat got your tongue?" Rogue asked, still smiling.  
  
"But-how? . . . euh . . . ?"  
  
"I hope you know I don't mind at all," Rogue continued between Nate's inarticulate speeches. "I just hope you're going to be alright with her. I know you'll make a nice couple."  
  
There was a moment of silence as Nathan just stared.  
  
"But we still are friends, aren't we?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Of . . . of course we are!" Nathan blurted out. "Rogue . . . thanks."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"No problem, Nathan," she said, getting up from her place. "I'll see you around then."  
  
"Sure," he answered, a wide, honest smile illuminating his features.  
  
She walked away towards the mansion, leaving Nathan to think about the conversation they had just had. He just couldn't believe how well it had all went. On the other hand, he didn't see how she cried once she reached her dorm room, a few words echoing in her head: It wasn't meant to be.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It's only fair that you review if you read. 


	29. An unusual warning

I was getting bored by my normal sized chapters, so here's a long one 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Chapter 29:**

A week past with no incident whatsoever for Nathan or his friends, as he attended all his classes at the school with Scott, Ororo, Jean and Logan as teachers, or should he call them Mr. Summers, Miss Monroe, Miss Grey and Mr. Logan (who was in fact only named sir by the students). They each taught maths and mechanics, history, art and English Literature, Science and English language, and Logan was left with self-defence. There was also the professor who gave physics classes. 

Rogue had been incredibly hostile towards Kitty the past few days, but she had finally gotten over Nathan, and was *trying* to be as nice as possible to Kitty. What she didn't understand was that Nathan hadn't even made a move to show her how he felt, and it was as if he was trying to stay away from her. Multiple answers to that question passed through Marie's head, but there was only one that she liked repeating to herself because it made her smile: He was SHY. Of course, she caressed the thought that he would come back to her, but she had a feeling it would never happen. Another one of her problems was that every time she saw a boy she was interested in, she kept comparing him to Nate, and it bugged her that she couldn't forget him. Bobby was just a friend, John too, and the other boys were . . . mostly strangers. She had turned her head towards Logan again, but he only saw her as an 'adoptive daughter', so there was no point. She could only be alone . . . with a mutation like the one she had. 

On the other side, she was happy to have Nathan as a friend, as she was still 'allowed' to stick around him. 

Kitty was always complaining to Jubilee about how Nathan never spoke to her anymore, and she was starting to suspect something about Rogue having something to do with it, even if she denied it. 

Maxim still stayed with his pal, but he now had other friends, and stayed more with them, leaving Nate with Bobby and Pyro. 

The days almost passed to fast for Nate, as he spent his time in and out of classes, on the grounds on the basketball field, in the library or simply in his dorm. He had almost forgotten his old habit of moving around all the time, and so didn't go to New York or check on anything involving his criminal activities. 

He thought of Kitty often, but still didn't dare to ask her out on a date. He didn't know if she took him seriously. 

~~~ 

A bell rang, announcing the end of the English Literature class. 

"Be prepared for a quiz on Wednesday," Ororo shouted above all the noise the students were making as they packed their things. 

Since it was a Friday, some of the students were going back to their parents. They weren't many, but were well seen because they had loved ones waiting for them. Scott was the one bringing them back and forth, and most of the times Logan helped out too, but only because the professor asked him too. Nathan had a bit of remorse, thinking of his parents back in Ontario, and he felt the need to call them. After all, he hadn't spoken to them in over five months. 

Packing his things, he listened to the conversation John brought up with Bobby. 

"Agh, we're Friday," he mentioned. "You know what that means," he said mater of factly to Bobby, who grunted for a response. 

"I.D.R.T.," Bobby answered, closing his book. 

"What's that?" Nathan asked, not even out of his seat yet. 

"Individual Danger Room Training," John said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. 

"And, what is that supposed to be?" Nathan continued with a cocked eyebrow. 

"You don't know what the Danger Room is yet?" said John incredulously. "Ah, you didn't visit the South Wing when you had all your free time? Well, the Danger Room is there. It's-" 

"A virtual training program taking place in a room that's named the Danger Room," Bobby finished. "About every student has to take about two classes per week, and John and I signed up for late afternoon on Fridays. It's fun, but takes out absolutely all your energy. 

"Come with us!" John said, walking to the door. "Maybe you could be allowed to try it too." 

The trio walked out of the room, towards the South Wing. It was half dug into the ground, but still had windows. It was pretty cool in that hallway, until you reached the two silver gates both forming an encircled X, similar to the one in the lower levels. Behind them was the Danger Room. Entering it, Nathan immediately felt comfortable. It was very, very big, and plain. It was totally empty, and could have contained about five to six X-Jets, just to give an approximate size. 

Bobby and Pyro were already walking to a door located on the right side, talking about something to do with the level of their training programs. A voice was heard in an intercom, and Nate guessed that it was Jean. 

"Come on, boys," she said. "We're starting now." 

Nathan followed his friends through the door and ended up in a room very similar to the one found in the lower levels, where all the uniforms were kept. It had the same form, but less suits because only the boys' were there. The ones belonging to the girls had to be in another changing room. Nathan waited for his friends to change before following them back out. Jean's voice was heard in the microphone again. 

"John, come up here with Nathan, will you. Bobby, you can get in place, we'll start with you." 

Pyro motioned Nate to follow him as he walked to another door, through which there was a staircase going upwards. It ended in a control room overlooking the Danger Room by a large tinted glass window. Jean was sitting in a chair in front of a control panel covered with buttons. She was still wearing her doctor's vest, and had her glasses on her nose. She didn't budge or turn around to see the two boys who had entered, and kept her eyes fixed on the other side of the glass. She picked up a pen, chewing lightly on the end as she opened a notebook in which were scribbled her observations. There was a speaker not too far away, and she spoke into it. 

"Okay, Bobby, today we'll see if your power's intensity has changed from last week, by giving you a serie of level three exercises," she said. 

They heard bobby's voice from another speaker, showing his approval. Jean pressed a couple of buttons and Nathan couldn't help but gasp as he saw with his own eyes the empty room materialize a scene he would have described as a dry weed plain, making him think of a scenery he had seen on a postcard. There were a few normal people standing here and there not too far away from Bobby who hadn't moved, and Nathan had the vague impression of having seen them before. 

The first was a young girl, maybe around the age of fifteen, honey colour eyes, brunette, wearing a summer skirt and a tank top. What was peculiar about her was that she had a pair of antennas on the top of her head. They were black, except for the round tip that was silver. She looked at Bobby as if it was totally normal for both of them to be there. 

The second person was a grown up man, maybe in his mid-forties, with a mix of brown and blond hair, not that tall, but very strong and wicked looking. He had a dirty shirt and a pair of large pants with army boots. He also didn't seem to have shaved for a couple of days. He was lightly bent forward, his palms opened forward, ready to attack the intruder. 

The third person was small, green and slimy. He was wearing clothes that seemed to come out of a dumpster, had greasy black and green hair, gooey yellow skin and very small teeth. In one word, he looked like a toad. Kneeling close to the ground, he seemed ready to pounce. 

The fourth and last person was a blue-scaled woman with red hair. She didn't move at all, but Nathan had heard of her. To want Bobby had told him, the frogman was code-named Toad was had been one of Magneto's followers, before missing in action after the Liberty Incident. The blue gal was known as Mystique, and was Magneto's closest follower, also the one that had set him free not too long ago. 

Nathan watched, visibly very interested. 

The first one to attack was the strong man. He charged and at the same moment Bobby turned into his mutation form. He jumped over the man by leaning on his back, just as they were about to collide. The man was instantly turned into an ice cube. Still in the air, Bobby saw Toad jump a bit lower than him, pushing himself against the tower of ice that was supporting Bobby. Nathan saw his tongue grow, catching Bobby's ankle. His friend started falling, but he froze his enemy's tongue before touching the ground, and that set him free once again. He saw the ground coming closer and at the last moment, levelled his palms towards the ground, a column of ice forming instantly, stopping him from hitting the floor. He was propelled back up into the air, where he back flipped to get rid of Toad, who was still stuck in the air. Mystique had taken that time to transform into . . . Pyro! She was using his power to melt Iceman's ice pillars, but wasn't doing a great job, since Bobby always had the time to form other ones on which he leaned, able to stay a fair distance away from the ground and his enemies. After some time of avoiding the hits, Bobby returned to the ground and fought Mystique in a hand-to-hand battle. She was very good in martial arts so she was quite a trick to take off, but Bobby arrived too. The last girl still hadn't moved, just looking at Bobby indifferently. Bobby made a step towards her, but felt two arms grabbing him from behind, taking him to violently he screamed, being thrown to the other side of the room. The other man was up again, and looked very angry. It was then that the little girl took this opportunity to run towards Bobby, probably with the idea to fight. Bobby didn't have the time to do anything as he saw her jump and land a few feet away from him. The other man rejoined her and he punched Bobby in the stomach, his fist being turned into ice a few moments later. With a few other moves, he was turned into an ice sculpture again. Before Bobby had the time to turn the other side, he was tackled to the floor, unable to move. The girl rose from above him, floating not too far away as he struggled to get free. After some time, he arrived to move his arms, then regained the use of his legs. He slowly got up, but felt himself being pushed with an incredible force against the opposite wall. Before falling to the ground, he aimed his palms towards the girl, but she moved just in time to avoid the hit. Many, many tries later, she was laying on the floor, turned into an ice cube. 

Sweating and panting heavily, Bobby got up, turning towards the glass panel through which Jean and the others were standing. 

"Okay, you control the force of your power completely, but you need to learn to keep an eye on all your adversaries at the same time, and never underestimate them like you did for the young one," Jean commented. 

Jean continued giving her annotations while Nate looked around the now empty room, trying to guess how the people and things were being projected. At first, he had thought of holograms, but Bobby had actually fought them, so it wasn't possible. When Jean was finished talking, Bobby had another serie of exercises, then about an hour later, it was John's turn. Nathan took a chair and sat beside Jean, liking to watch what the Danger Room was able to do. After the plain, Bobby had fought in a city and had been ordered not to damage anything, so it had been quite tricky for him. After that, it had been at the beach, somewhere much too hot for him to use his mutation properly and finally, he had finished with a combat on a skyscraper. Pyro had fought in a desert, where he couldn't burn anything but only make sand dunes explode, a forest where he wasn't allowed to burn down the vegetation and an arctic scenery. Once he was finished, Nathan turned to Jean. 

"Could I try it?" he asked, looking at her scribble more notes in her jotter. 

"No," she answered firmly. "We need to do a serie of medical tests first and find out precisely what your mutation is first. If not, we might not develop it the good way, so until then, you can't use the Danger Room 'cause it wouldn't be safe. 

"When do I do the medical tests then?" Nathan asked, annoyed that he couldn't work out in the Danger Room. 

"Tomorrow," Jean answered. "Ten o'clock, okay?" 

"Yeah, sure," Nate said as he walked out of the room to go find his friends. 

~~~~~ 

The next morning, Nathan dot up bright and early and went down to the gym where he found Logan. They talked, worked out a bit then went to the kitchen where they both ate. It was almost crazy how well the two got along well. 

After that, Nate got back to his room and got dressed properly to go down to the med lab where Jean was probably already waiting. She didn't really do a full medical exam because she was mostly preoccupied by Nate's bullet wound and his heart, so there wasn't much to do. 

After an hour of small exams, Nathan was set free again. He spent most of the day outside playing basketball with the others . . . and avoiding Kitty. 

Everything seemed normal. 

~~~~~ 

The next day, Nathan had to do another serie of medical tests, this time with the professor. After two hours spent in the med lab, he was asked to follow him to his office. 

"So, Nathan," the professor started. "Do you remember when you didn't know what you're mutation was?" 

Nathan nodded. 

"You had your fangs, then we were confused by what you did in your fight down in the lab because at some point you used telekinesis, then with the daggers and your enhanced senses and your small healing factor but Jean and I have finally arrived to a conclusion," he continued. "At the beginning, you were able to do a few different things, because your mutation wasn't fix yet. The X-Gene wasn't properly placed in your blood system and so you had the capability of doing multiple things, but we still find it strange that the X-Gene wasn't 'properly fixed' into your system, because you are the first mutant in which we see this." 

"What do you mean by 'not properly fixed'?" Nathan asked. 

"There was something stopping the X-Gene from staying in your system," the professor said. "We think it was your body that was refusing it." 

"So what now?" Nathan asked after a while. 

"Well, your mutation is now 'permanent', I guess we could say," Jean said from the back of the room. "We know you can materialize certain things from your mind by making the other person believe that that object is there, we know you have a feeble healing power and some enhanced senses. The rest weren't permanent and so you won't have them anymore." 

"Good," Nathan mumbled. 

They kept talking for a while before Nathan was excused and the professor kept talking to Jean. 

"You think it would be okay?" Jean asked, once he had closed the door. 

"Yes," The professor said. "I think he's ready to join the team." 

~~~ 

that night, Nathan was in his bed, in a dorm that is, sleeping soundly. Max was in a bed on his left, beside which were two other beds, respectfully belonging to Bobby and Pyro, and all three were also asleep. For once, Nate wasn't bothered by his second self and could sleep carelessly. But of course, this was only a window of opportunity that his conscience ungratefully took to push Nathan to the edge of insanity. What one did not know, was that Nathan's conscience didn't want the doom of his owner, but was only a porthole to his past, present, future, thoughts; so in one word, his life. 

This time, he wanted to show his 'owner' a part of what he didn't know, yet involved him plenty in many ways. His 'mental picture' took the form of a nightmare. 

~~~ 

Nathan turned in his bed once again, illuminated by the moon outside the window. Pearls of sweat were running down his forehead and his eyes were shut tight, his eyebrows frowning now and then. 

All his surroundings were blurry, forming some sort of greenish/blue halo around everything his mind was picturing. At first, he could see a young girl with undefined traits, sitting on marble steps that seemed to lead to two metal-like gates in the middle of which was a design or insignia where a key was to be inserted to open the gates. The logo was of a pair of spread open angel-like wings. Nathan heard the girl sitting on the steps chuckle, and instinctively focused on her. She seemed to be around three years old, but to her size, she could have been younger. It was to say, she was very small. Her mix of dark and clear hair was let loose, moving with the breeze and she had a smile on her face as she held her knees to her chin. She was wearing a summer dress, but didn't have any shoes on. She chuckled again, looking directly at Nathan. 

Suddenly, like he had felt at the docks, he was 'sucked in' to another image, or another part of his dream, I should say. Now, he could see the same gates and same steps, but the sky was darker, thunder was in the air and everything looked damaged and old, and so looked like the contrary of what it had been before, with the little girl. The marble steps were broken, slashed and hacked, and the gates were almost falling apart. Nathan didn't see anything else for some time, until another person entered his dream: his other self. 

Well, he thought at first that it was his other self, but it wasn't. It looked like Nathan but it couldn't be. This Nathan was different, both physically and mentally, but there was something so similar to him it was frightening. This person, like the little girl, laughed, even if everything around him was in total havoc. The little girl showed up again, wearing the same thing, jumping over fallen rocks bare-footed. She jumped into the boy's arms, and he to the floor. Still hugging him, she turned to Nate. 

"Hi, Nathan," she said calmly as the scenery around them changed again, to be replaced by the first one he had seen. "You don't remember me?" 

Nathan could only stare as the two persons looked at him. 

"You're supposed to be here, with us, remember?" she continued. 

There was silence for a moment, until the child started talking about many things that Nate didn't understand completely, and all through her saying, she seemed to get more nervous and worried, as if something bad was going to happen and the surrounding, like her feelings, seemed to change from the beautiful bright place near the gates, then to the havoc it was before. 

"We're very close . . . we're all safe for now . . . but not for long . . . they're coming for . . . us . . . mutants . . . 'He's coming . . . I want to warn you . . . come back, Nathan . . . mother doesn't know . . . she can't remember well . . . can you help my mommy? . . father is gone . . . we don't know where . . . the control . . . mutations . . . experiments . . . come back . . . assassins . . . mother . . . the base . . . mother at the . . . working . . . Alberta . . . the lab . . . me . . . you . . . them . . . they . . . mutants . . . gone . . . we're here . . . we don't forget . . . you . . . we know . . . mother knows more . . . she won't tell . . . she's afraid . . . we're all afraid . . . safe . . . sanctuary . . . power . . . . mutation . . . Can you help my mother?. . . come back, Nathan . . . help . . . they . . . take control . . . mutants . . . us . . . experiments . . . the lab . . . you . . ." 

And suddenly, the words kept getting fainter and fainter before the person looking like Nate disappeared and the girl was left alone. She kept talking, saying full phrases that Nate could only pick up a few words here and there. She looked so desperate. She was starting to disappear. She screamed, falling on the stone steps before it all went black. 

After that, Nathan could barely remember what happened as he yelled at the same time the little girl did, his scream pushed by an unknown fear. After that, he remembered waking up the others by his yell, they rushing to his side, Jean coming in, turning on the lights, hearing the Voice louder than ever until, by using her power, Jean did something to help Nate calm down, and so shut his mind for a couple of hours. 

In his artificial sleep, even though his mind was 'shut off' and that there was no way to feel, hear or think, he could still hear the little girl from his dream, whispering the same words, and in the background, the same little cold laugh that followed him everywhere. At the end, before disappearing from his mind, the little girl whispered new words: 

Don't say a word . . . they don't know . . . it's better . . . for their safety . . . but don't forget . . . come back, Nathan . . . 

~~~ 

Jean waked Nate a couple of hours and he immediately realized, to his great displeasure, that he was in the med lab again. The professor, in his pyjamas like all the others, was looking at him leniently. Before they could say anything, Nathan started talking, the little girl's last sayings running through his head. 

"Ah, It's okay everybody, I don't mean to wake you all up, nothings going on, nothing happened, it's just, well, you know, the other voice thing in my head, you can all go back to sleep . . ." 

"Nathan, just wait a minute," The Professor said. "All I want to know is, did you have a dream in which a person was talking to you?" 

There was a moment of silence as Nathan tried to see if he could give an alternate answer in order to avoid all the others. There wasn't and he was talking to a psychic, so there was no point of lying anyway. 

"Yes," he whispered. "But it was only a dream." 

The professor only listened to his first answer, and turned to Jean, giving her 'a look', as if confirming something he had said earlier. 

"Nathan," he said, sighing. "What you saw wasn't a dream. It was a unidentified psychic from somewhere out of the school, talking to you inside your head." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

TOMTOMTOM!!! Another PSYCHIC. Why does this 'unidentified Psychic' want to talk to Nathan? Well, you'll find out when I'll decide to tell you. Now I need to concentrate on what Magneto's doing. Wait . . . is psychic working *for* Magneto? Aqh. I already see it. Magneto beside Nathan, handing his hand. "Nathan, I am your FATHER!" 

Muahahaha. Nope. I don't think so.


	30. Magneto

Escaflowne, thank you for pointing out that Mystique couldn't copy powers! I had totally forgotten! But still . . . it was the Danger Room so I guess I was aloud to bend a few rules . . . And just to point out to everyone something I found out: Pyro doesn't create fire. He only manipulates it . . . but I'll ignore that too, and just pretend that he can create flames.  
  
Well, here is my not-that-long chapter 30.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mystique was looking out of a window, looking out at the street below. She somehow felt that something was about to happen.  
  
She was in what looked like an apartment, in the poor section of New York. It was very close to the docks, and in fact, the warehouses' rooftops could even be seen in the distance.  
  
"What are you worrying about?" a voice said from further in the room.  
  
Mystique turned around, looking at the boy who had spoken to her with a soft, almost caring look on her face.  
  
The boy in question was sitting in a large mushy armchair, knees to his chin. He looked incredibly young for his age and many would have said he was possibly around the age of sixteen, even if he really was closer to eighteen. He had a mix of dark blond and light brown hair, but his roots were definitely a dark brown. They couldn't be thought of as short, but couldn't at all be considered long. His eyes were of a discrete cerulean tone, and his skin was of a light tone.  
  
His black shoes were on the floor, leaving him floating in extra-large white socks. He was wearing ¾ navy-blue pants, and still, that article of clothing also looked a bit big for him. The only thing he was wearing that didn't look two sizes too big was his black shirt. He was wearing a large brown vest on top of it, and it, like the ¾ pants, had multiple pockets. A dark blue scarf was passed loosely around his neck, and this way, he seemed to have just arrived from a faraway country. The suitcase near the wall proved it. He was also wearing fingerless black gloves that only covered his palms.  
  
The sofa on which he was sitting was battered, torn and stained, but looked extremely comfortable. There were half filled or empty bags of chips, candy and other food. At the moment, he was finishing a piece of liquorice.  
  
He looked at her, his eyes reflecting pure innocence. Mystique opened her mouth and was about to answer, but he spoke first.  
  
"Don't worry about those X-Geeks coming around. I'll be ready for them," he said visibly very confident. "You should sleep a bit. I'll guard."  
  
Mystique smiled to herself. That kid was really something. What she found strange was that when she had first met him, a few months ago, she immediately trusted him implicitly. She had recruited him in spring, not only because she knew all about his powers and knew that he could be extremely useful, but also because she knew that he was fiercely loyal to friends, no matter who or what they did. Of course, she had jumped on the opportunity of enlisting him as a new member of the Brotherhood.  
  
"Fine," she said, walking towards a sofa near the opposite wall. "Just wake me up around three."  
  
"Boff . . . I'll see if you look too tiered," the boy said, smiling as he looked away from Mystique's irritated face.  
  
That was the thing with this boy. He wasn't intimidated by anyone, and was impudent enough to disobey if it was for the person's good. And Mystique knew it. She sighed, giving up as she walked to the sofa.  
  
"Goodnight, Raven," she heard the boy whisper once she had closed her eyes.  
  
She smiled.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay, we're going after him!" Scott said, marching towards the door, quickly followed by Logan.  
  
"Storm, Jean, get the younger ones," Xavier shouted over the commotion that was brewing in the med lab. "Logan, get Nathan a uniform."  
  
"What?" Nathan asked, now seriously wondering what was going to happen.  
  
"I can trace down mutants thanks to my power," the professor said quickly. "I think if we follow my insinuations, we could find him."  
  
"Who 'him'?" Nate continued, jumping to the floor to follow the professor who was already out in the hallway.  
  
"Magneto, of course," The professor stated. "As you know, I am a very strong psychic. When Jean and I work together, our power is stronger, but when you add in another psychic, the force is very strong and I tried to localize this other psychic, and I couldn't. That was extremely strange, but with the power together, I used it to find Magneto, who was located almost in the exact same place than the psychic. He's in New York and the X- Men are going after him."  
  
"Okay, I didn't clearly understand all this psychic thing, but lets say I did: That other psychic isn't evil, that I'm sure of it," Nathan said.  
  
"No, Nathan, you can't be sure of that," the professor stated. "Magneto is renown for brining together strong mutants and using them at his advantage against humans."  
  
Nathan was going to object again when Logan grabbed his arm, pulling him to the side.  
  
"Put this on," he said, handing the boy a uniform.  
  
~~~  
  
The boy sitting in the sofa jumped out of his seat and walked to the window where Mystique had previously stood. Nothing seemed unusual, but there was something that stopped him from letting down his guards. In the street below, he saw a couple walking hand in hand. Unconsciously, as if it was a habit, he lowered his palm towards the people, and waited a few seconds.  
  
"Not mutants," he whispered, re-placing his hand in his pocket. "Humans."  
  
He heard a sound behind him and turned around just to see Mystique, sleeping, turning in another position, pulling her blanket along.  
  
He looked back out the window, and saw something soaring in the sky at a very low altitude.  
  
"What the hell . . ." he muttered, not believing his eyes.  
  
The large object he had identified as some sort of aircraft landed between some of the smaller warehouses. Mystique had told him about something that resembled that: the X-Jet. And that could only mean one thing.  
  
"They located Magneto," the boy whispered, jumping from the windowsill, running towards the exit.  
  
~~~  
  
Ten minutes later, the team was complete, sitting in the jet, waiting for takeoff. Scott was the pilot, as always, and Ororo the co-pilot. Jean and Jubilee were behind them, followed by Kitty, Max and John, Bobby and Nate and Rogue and Logan in the back.  
  
"I don't like this," Nate said, fidgeting in his seat.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Bobby said, buckling his seatbelt.  
  
"No . . . you don't understand . . . the psychic, there's something about him," Nate whispered as the motors started.  
  
He stayed quiet for the whole trip, recapitulating what the psychic had told him: There was something about him being with them . . . so that would theoretically mean that he knew them. These mutants were close, and in a safe place . . . a safe place for mutants would be some sort of refuge, like Xavier's school . . . maybe this psychic was talking about the school . . . people were coming for this psychic and mutants . . . The rest was too vague to deduct anything: experiments, a lab, assassins, a mother not remembering, a departed father, Alberta . . . This wasn't very clear information.  
  
The time he took to think about all of that was the time Scott used to arrive to New York.  
  
""This is funny," Jean said, looking over Scott's shoulder. "The place the professor is indicating me is very close to the docks."  
  
"Yes, well we are assuming that it is him who burned down half of it, so it isn't so surprising," Scott said. "Storm, some cover please."  
  
They all waited a moment, seeing Ororo concentrate. Fog started to surround the aircraft, when suddenly, it all just disappeared.  
  
"What?" Strom shouted. "Don't tell me it's happening again!"  
  
"Your mutation's not working?" Jean asked.  
  
"No!" Ororo shouted. "What is this?"  
  
"I talked to the professor about this," Jean said. "He didn't know what it was or meant."  
  
"Okay, it's here," Scott interrupted as they all felt the jet start a descent.  
  
They were lucky because Ororo was the only one to have problems with her mutation. All the others worked fine, and so they weren't obliged to pull back.  
  
The place where they were supposed to find Magneto was an old abandoned storehouse. According to Jean, he was alone in it, and so it was the perfect time to attack. Rogue, Nathan, Bobby and Logan were told to go to the back, to prevent him to escape by there. The others split in three teams to each of from the front, and the sides.  
  
The attack was relatively quick, and very effective. Since Magneto was alone, it didn't take too long for the X-Men to control, except for Logan who was best to stay away. Scott had put on a visor made of plastic, and all of them had made sure that they weren't wearing anything in metal. Magneto had used him power and had used some of the metal objects in the storehouse to protect himself and to try to escape, but with no success. He gave up pretty quickly.  
  
At one point, Pyro bashed him on the head with a wooden crate, and he fell to his knees. The X-Men circled him.  
  
"You don't know what you're all doing," he arrived to mumble, still holding his head.  
  
~~~  
  
They all started walking towards the jet, Scott and Iceman supporting Magneto, since he was barely capable of standing on his two feet because of the blow Pyro had given him. The jet was in sight and Scott was already talking about a plastic prison that was awaiting his return, when they all heard a voice conning from the roof of the nearest storehouse.  
  
"Stop," a boy's voice said with authority.  
  
The X-Men couldn't help smiling faintly at the sight of that young boy ordering them all to stop. Magneto looked up, saw the boy and smiled evilly.  
  
"Well, X-Men," he said weakly. "Let me introduce you to one of my new numbers."  
  
"Back off, kid!" Logan shouted.  
  
"I don't think so, pal," the boy said. "Let Magneto go."  
  
"Listen, boy, you're not supposed to be here, so just bug off," Cyclops said.  
  
"Let the big boys do their work," Bobby added, unable to stop himself from looking at the kid on the roof with cocked eyebrows.  
  
"Big boys, hun?" the boy said mockingly. "You just look like a nice gang of pussies to me."  
  
The X-Men ignored him, ready to continue walking, but Magneto wouldn't follow.  
  
"Listen, Magneto," Cyclops said. "You got a *kid* for back-up. Just follow us without protesting."  
  
"Oh, I think you're all underestimating him," Magneto snorted.  
  
At the same moment, the boy jumped to the ground, in front of the X-Men, his hands now in his pockets. Jean sighed and raised her hands with the idea of just pushing him away with her power. Her eyes widened when she noticed that her powers didn't seem to work anymore. Seeing that Jean couldn't do anything about the boy, Bobby and Pyro raised their hands at the same time, ready to do something to push the teenage away. Their powers didn't work either.  
  
"X-Men, I'd like you all to meet Hooligan," Magneto said, visibly pleased. "For those stupid enough not to have figured out what was his power, well it is that he can control the X-Gene. He foils mutations."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Man, I've been wanting to introduce this character for quite a while . . . What do you think of him? And no, he's not the psychic from Nate's dream.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!! 


	31. Can't stand it anymore

I am SUPER happy. Want to know why? (I will now pretend that you do want to know). Well, first of all, I saw X-Men 2 and my friends and I had the best places (top top row in the middle under the projector thingy) because we arrived something like an hour earlier. Well. Now . . . Shawn Ashmore is HOT!!! He is sooo adorable! (sorry, sorry, couldn't help myself). For all of you who have also seen the movie, don't you find the ending is a bit annoying? It's written in invisible black ink that Jean's not dead. DUH. For those who want to know, my theory is that Jean is not dead and that she will re-appear in X-Men 3 (yes, X-Men 3, you read correctly) and you will all get why her alias is going to be Phoenix. You know, the Phoenix rebirth thingy. (all together now: ahhhhh) You have to approve, it's pretty amazing to hear that from someone who doesn't read the comics or has never seen the cartoon in her life, hun? I'm a bit cheating now, because I know that because I read it in a 'Jean Grey Biography' thing off the internet, but who cares! (The real version is that she is under water in the bay of New York when they all think she's dead, and she stays there while 'an alien' takes her place as Dark Phoenix. Then Scott, after trying to forget Jean, marries a woman that looks like Jean and they have a kid named . . . Nathan. Well, that's when Jean shows up again, this time as Phoenix, saves the world or something like that, and goes back with Scott who abandons his wife and kid. Ain't that just . . . ???? Well, that's the real story. And Nathan Cage, MY character IS NOT Scott's abandoned son, if that was what you were thinking)  
  
The real reason of my being so happy is that . . . X2 just simply appears to be a prefect prequel to 'Unfinished Business'! Everything is going to work perfectly!!! And so, 'Unfinished Business' will be my version of X-Men 3. I'm so excited!  
  
Now for the rest of the news: Didn't all of you just LOVE Mystique in X2? She was so cool! And Deathstrike too! (I loved her eyes). Nightcrawler was very cool too, 'cause I love the blue trail he leaves when he teleports. I bet we're all going to see multiple Ororo/Kurt stories coming up soon. Pyro was fun but he's not part of my favourites. I loved Jason's power and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to let him live in my 'Unfinished Business'. Of course, Bobby and Rogue were just great, but they should have fought more with the rest of the X-Men. . .  
  
I find it evil-funny the part where Magneto's in the jet with the X-Men and Mystique and he laugh and say to Rogue "We love what you've done to your hair". That's just . . . mueheheh. (Rogue should have smacked him)  
  
Special-new-section-for-thank-yous-for-the-reviewers:  
  
Tigereyes: I hoped you liked the movie! And . . . yeah. My school is directed by nuns (not that I'm complaining or anything, but still . . .)  
  
Chloe: Thank you for encouraging me!!!  
  
Blaze: Welcome to the team Blaze! And I'm sorry for the spelling thing.  
  
Cristi: Well Scott 'mysteriously' found his visor by pure luck . . . I guess  
  
Ice Phoenix: I'm happy you like him (Hooligan).  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hooligan dived to the centre of the group, just before jumping upwards to arrive behind Magneto.  
  
"As I said before, you'd do better to let him go," he said to Logan.  
  
In answer, the Wolverine unsheathed his claws without thinking, his hands soon becoming crimson red because of his blood pouring from his knuckles. Scott tried his visor, but it didn't work. Folded in two because of the pain, Logan growl.  
  
"Oh, I'm going to get you, you little bastard, and when I do, you'll wish you were-"  
  
"Magneto's a criminal, we can't let him go," Jean said, interrupting Logan before he finished his sentence. "He's going back to his plastic prison."  
  
"No he's not," Hooligan said.  
  
The X-Men stated arguing with the boy. They weren't even fighting.  
  
Nathan sighed, looking at the boy in an odd way. He cracked his knuckles, and, seconds later, he had created a weapon with his mind, and the boy's jacket was pinned to the wall behind by a dagger.  
  
"Thinking that what I'm going is real doesn't affect my being a mutant," he growled, walking to the boy who still didn't understand why he had been able to use his mutation. "Seems that you've met your match," Nathan sneered, leaning on the wall to which the boy was pinned.  
  
The X-Men just stared, all very surprised, and Magneto didn't seem happy at all.  
  
"Not quite," the boy mumbled, just before using his feet to do a backward flip on the wall, pushing himself against it to stop himself hitting the ground head first, and he landed a few feet away. He looked quite surprised to see that the dagger in the wall had disappeared. Something had told Nathan that he was going to be able to free himself, and so he was ready to give his adversary a good blow. It consisted of a first kick in the stomach, two punches in the ribs to make him back off and tripping him off. He landed on the ground with a thump, and looked pretty flabbergasted.  
  
It's at that moment that Mystique appeared in the picture. By the time the X-Men had realized that she was there, Scott was on the floor. Pyro was desperately trying to get air into his lungs because of the hit he had just received, and Bobby was lying on his back, a look of pain on his face. Rogue rushed to his side to see if he was all right while Kitty and Jubilee tried to do something about Mystique. Jean and Ororo couldn't use their powers to control Magneto because of Hooligan, but strangely, he could very well use his. He used his power to hit Logan across the path, into the wall. He fell to the floor with a very large thud, brining down pieces of wood from the wall with him.  
  
Nathan, seeing that everything was going wrong, knew exactly what he had to do. He picked up a rock from the ground, turned to Hooligan and before the boy could do anything to stop him, he bashed him on the head, rendering him unconscious. The X-Men could now use their powers.  
  
At some point during the fight, Magneto began to flee while Mystique was occupied with the others. The boy, Hooligan, had regained a part of his awareness and was trying to control everyone's mutation again. Seeing that his help wasn't greatly needed, her began to follow Magneto. With his heightened senses, it was relatively easy, and controlling him wasn't tuff because he wasn't wearing anything made out of metal, and he could easily doge the projectiles Magneto was throwing at him. They had somehow arrived on the top of a storehouse and Nathan had thought about using his daggers, but they would make Magneto think they were out of metal, and he could possibly use them against Nate. Of course, Nathan wasn't use of that, but he didn't want to take a chance at knowing. After what seemed to be ten minutes of fighting, Nathan got caught off guard by a metal pole that hit him right in the stomach, sending him flying through the air. He had arrived so close to the ledge that when he landed, he tripped over and fell to the ground below, on his back. Nathan didn't more for a long time, forced to stay immobile because of the intense pain he was feeling in his upper back. It was only when he saw Magneto getting away that he tried to get up, again very slowly because of the pain. He caught up with Magneto a few moments later and they started fighting again.  
  
Soon, the other X-Men arrived, just when Nathan was pinning Magneto to the ground.  
  
"You don't know what you're doing, Wolf," Magneto whispered to Nathan. "You aren't who you think you are . . . They aren't your family. Yours is not what you think it is."  
  
Nathan turned to the X-Men still at the other end of the alley, running towards them.  
  
"I'm not talking about them," Magneto said. "I'm talking about what you believe in."  
  
Confused, Nathan didn't have the time to ask what he meant as the X-Men arrived and took Magneto.  
  
While they were all surrounding him, Nathan stayed away, just listening to what they were all asking him and trying to ignore the still growing pain in his back.  
  
"Who's the psychic, Magneto?" Jean asked, controlling him with her power.  
  
Visibly, they had controlled Hooligan to be able to use their powers again.  
  
"What psychic?" Magneto asked, visibly not understanding.  
  
"The one that passed the school shields!" Scott blurted out.  
  
Magneto smiled evilly.  
  
"Ah, so there is another psychic, and visibly not on your side," he said. "I'm truly sorry to say that I don't know him yet."  
  
There was a moment of intense silence as the X-Men looked at each other maybe slightly frightened or shocked.  
  
"So . . . you have no idea who this person could be?" Jubilee asked.  
  
"There aren't many psychics on this planet, and even less that are strong enough to penetrate the school without Xavier knowing about it, and so my guess is that you are in trouble if he's not on your side," Magneto said calmly. "And plus, I usually know about mutants like this one, and I don't."  
  
"Well, it doesn't change the fact that you are going back to your prison," Ororo said.  
  
And to that, they all started walking back to the jet, Jean being extra careful not to let Magneto use his power.  
  
Nathan stayed behind a little bit, looking at the warehouses' roofs. Above one of them, he could have sworn he had seen that boy, Hooligan, spying on them. Mystique was probably long far-gone, and he was probably going to rejoin her. At least Magneto was going back to prison.  
  
But what meant what he had said? Something about his family, being not what he thought it was. Shaking his head, e walked back to the jet. The psychic's message, what Magneto had said . . . it was getting much too confusing.  
  
He entered the jet, walked to his place, eyeing Kitty on the way. The jet took off while he was thinking about everything again.  
  
There was a quick stop at the plastic prison where they sent Magneto again, and then they returned to the school.  
  
The jet parked under the basketball court, he changed into his pyjamas again, and walked back to him room, where he fell asleep, trying to forget everything that had just happened . . .  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day, Nathan woke up with no hurry. He stayed in bed a long while, just staring at the ceiling, thinking about how complicated his life could be. Seeing that it was nearly eleven, Nathan got up, happy that Jean had let him sleep. All the X-Men were probably still sleeping.  
  
He got up and walked to his bathroom. Turing on the light but walked back out. Grumbling because of his aching back that was truly killing him with the pain since last night.  
  
Walking back inside, he turned on his computer. Back from the mission, he hadn't wanted to go sleep in the dormitory with the other boys. He wanted to be alone, and what he liked was that in this room, he had a bathroom just for him and he didn't need to use the boys' bathroom.  
  
He walked back inside the bathroom, walking to the cupboard where he found bandages. The fight he had been in at the docks hadn't helped his bullet wound at all. Plus, Jean needed to keep checking his vitals three times a week to be sure everything was all right.  
  
Nathan carefully took off his old bandage, happy to see that his wound wasn't bleeding. He walked to the shower and turned the tap on before getting rid of the rest of his clothes.  
  
After his shower, he dried himself and placed a new bandage on his wound. Walking back into his room, he found clean clothes he quickly put on. After that, he walked back into the bathroom to comb his still humid hair and to brush his teeth. He took out his toothbrush and started cleaning his teeth when, for the first time in the morning, he looked into the mirror. He stopped dead, a frown appearing on his face.  
  
His eyes were green again.  
  
Growling, he finished brushing his teeth and ran out of the room, forgetting to turn off the light. He went directly to Jean's office.  
  
He opened the door, ignoring the little kid sitting on the med table.  
  
"JEAN!" he shouted, more mad after himself than anything else. "WHY, o WHY does this mutation have to be so complicated?"  
  
Jean turned from the kid she was checking on, visibly very surprised.  
  
"Wait . . . I don't even want to know why! I just . . . wanted to tell you that I'm going to take a big break from all of this. All of this mutant thing. I'm leaving for . . . I don't even know how long. I'm telling you this because you seem to be the one that understands people more. I'm going to stay maybe two or three days, but after that I have to go . . . I don't know if I'm coming back, but I just have to go."  
  
And with that he was out, still mumbling things.  
  
There was a moment of silence, before Jean realized what was happening. She sighed and jogged out of the room, cursing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nathan ran out of the med lab and entered the elevator before Jean had reached him. He reached the first floor and started walking towards the door leading to the grounds. He immediately realized that the students had probably been given a day off because many were outside. He walked to the basketball court but passed it, simply waving at his friends. There was someone he needed to talk to.  
  
Walking towards the line of trees not too far away, he immediately located a yellow spot jumping around. That meant that Jubilee was near, and so Kitty was also there. He finally reached Jubilee and noticed that Rogue was also there. All three were talking about a movie or something like that.  
  
"Excuse me, but could I talk to Kitty for a moment?" he asked, looking at Kitty with a smile.  
  
Jubilee and Rogue exchanged glances and smiled sheepishly as they walked away, giggling as they turned around a couple of times, a wide grin on their faces.  
  
"Your eyes . . ." Kitty said, before he could talk. "They're back to green!"  
  
"I guess they're going to keep changing colour," Nathan said. "So, how are you doing?"  
  
Kitty smiled widely.  
  
"Well," she answered. "And you?"  
  
"Hum . . . not too good, unfortunately," he said, making her frown wonderingly. "The problem is . . . you know . . . the way you feel when you just get out of the best ride at the attraction park?"  
  
Kitty stared blankly, but seemed to understand a little.  
  
"You know . . . it's when you feel so extremely thrilled and happy, but so dizzy you can barely stand on your two feet and you just can't do anything properly for the next few minutes?" Nathan continued, carefully choosing his words. "That's how I've felt since I've first seen you walking through that kitchen wall . . . You blow my mind away . . . and I was wondering . . . if you would like to go on a date with me tonight."  
  
There was a moment of silence and Kitty just stared at Nathan who was staring at the ground since the beginning of his speech. Tears of joy started to form in her eyes as she jumped to Nate's neck. He passed his arms around her waist contentedly pulling her closer in an embrace.  
  
"I love you, Kitty," he whispered into her ear.  
  
"I love you too, Nathan," she whispered back, unable to hold back her tears of joy.  
  
He pulled her back, looked into her eyes, leaned down and kissed her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Please review! P-p-p-please review! 


	32. a date, a back ache and a descision

Special-section-for-thank-yous-and-answers-for-the-reviewers:  
  
Escaflowne: Hello, and thank you for . . . reviewing (duh). To answer your questions, the romance wont last very long in this story and I think there will only be about four to five chapters before it's done and I switch to Unfinished Business. There will be more 'stuff' and a lot of OCs in that story.  
  
Imaginator: I TOTALLY agree with you. ABSELUTELY. It was a bit not fun that we didn't see Cyclops enough, don't you think? He better have a nicely bigger role in X3.  
  
Visio: Sooo . . . you live in Texas. Cool. Fun you specified, 'cause I'm in Montreal, Canada.  
  
Chelsea: Thank you!!!! :) And you are not at all pathetic to go see it twice! Myself, I saw it again last Friday (because I had a free ticket, but that's another story).  
  
Oh, and: "I'll have Jean braid your hair." heheh  
  
Ice Phoenix: As always, thank you.  
  
Chloe: well, all those quotes gave me a laugh! And to answer your question about Magneto not controlling the jet, well it was because Jean was controlling him with her power, and he was half knocked out in the first place, so that's my 'not so good reason that I'm going to pretend is valid'.  
  
BLAZE: thank you for having me on your favourite author list (I feel so special)! Good luck with your exams, mine are coming soon too (*nnnooo . . .*) And for Nate's abilities, you haven't seen half of what he can do. You'll understand all of it better in the sequel, but that's another story! (yes, it literally *is* another story. Haha.)  
  
Fireball: thank you, and I am going to make something happen with Rogue, just not now.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 32:  
  
Nathan looked back into the mirror, checking once again that his clothes and hair was fine and realizing that his eyes were still green. Weird.  
  
His clothes were not different from what he wore usually because the places he intended to bring Kitty weren't exactly fancy, they were just places he knew she would like to see and hang out at. He was wearing black pants, baggy and with multiple pockets, as always, a plain black T-shirt and a leather trench coat. He had a simple chain for necklace, and a single silver earring. His fingers brushed the ring of metal in his ear, smiling to himself. His mother had punished him for months worth of weekend outings for getting it. She had hated it so much, but he had resisted, and had kept it. His hair, looking completely black without the sun, was still falling in messed up bangs on his forehead.  
  
There was also another thing Nathan had noticed: there was always something showing that he was a mutant. If it wasn't his purple eyes, it was his canines, or, like that night, his a bit pointy ears. At least they weren't really visible, thanks to his hair. Why did his mutation keep . . . doing *weird* stuff all the time? What was wrong with it?  
  
He turned around, looking at his room. He still hadn't returned to the dorm.  
  
Looking near his wardrobe, he saw his suitcase he had taken out of his closet for some reason. That was the problem with him since he had become a mutant: he didn't believe in a place out of harm's way. No mater how hard he tried to convince himself that where he was, was secure, he had to move, and it was this morning when that urge had taken him one again, stronger than ever.  
  
He sighed, pushing the suitcase under his bed and walking to the computer. He checked that none of his clients were on line and logged off.  
  
It was almost time to go down and get Kitty.  
  
He smiled at the thought of her, but it faded away when he thought of his suitcase and what he had said to Jean: he *needed* to go.  
  
Sighing, he walked to the door, without forgetting his wallet and a box, in which was a present for Kitty.  
  
He walked down to the common room, and spotted Kitty immediately: someone (probably Jubilee), had done her hair. It was spiked a little at the end, being held by a red bandana, and simply brushing her shoulders lightly. She had those loopy earrings, and had put on a touch of makeup, which was rarely seen because she didn't need any, being beautiful as she was. She was wearing a dress almost totally made of layers of red veil, and she had a pair of bellbottomed blue jeans since it was so short. She was wearing high-heeled sandals.  
  
"Euh . . . h-hi," Nathan stuttered, walking to her.  
  
She smiled widely, literally jumping to his neck. He hugged her, and pulled her backwards to show her what he had gotten her. He opened the box, to reveal a necklace.  
  
"I got you this," he said, pulling it out of the box.  
  
Kitty couldn't say anything. The necklace was absolutely magnificent: It was a silver chain, at the end of which was hanging a miniaturized flower, a blossoming rose, to be exact. Two little green and silver leaves surrounded it, and the flower itself was red. In the middle was a heart- shaped diamond.  
  
"Oh, Nate, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.  
  
Nathan detached it and turned around to attach it around her neck. She contemplated it in front of the mirror for a few minutes, until she turned to him, and asked him what they were going to do.  
  
"Ah, it's a surprise," he answered, smiling to her curious face. "Come, my car's in front of the door."  
  
"Bye guys!" Jubilee cheered with Rogue as they walked out of the mansion. They cheered until the door closed behind them. "So, wanna watch a scary movie?" She said, turning to Rogue.  
  
"Nah, I can't," Rogue answered, walking to the stairs. "I have a date with Bobby."  
  
Jubilee smiled and her eyes sparkled maliciously. She was about to start that annoying song 'Rogue and Bobby sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g . . .' but she stopped herself just in time. How could they kiss?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sitting in the car, Kitty kept talking as Nathan drove through Westchester, going towards New York. The first stop was a restaurant, said to have the best vegetarian meals. Nathan had been informed that Kitty was a vegetarian.  
  
They ate a wide variety of salads and other things, and Nate, who was more of a meat-eater, didn't find the food unpleasant at all.  
  
The second stop was an attraction park, where they spent a couple of hours, just walking around, trying some of the games and winning most of them.  
  
After that, it was at the movies that Nate brought her. They chose an old black and white movie, knowing that they weren't exactly going to *actually* listen to the movie . . .  
  
After that, it was already one in the morning, so Nate started the drive back 'home'.  
  
He half dragged, half carried Kitty back to her room, because she was so tiered she could barely walk.  
  
Nathan returned to his room, satisfied by everything. To him, nothing abnormal had happened. Everything was great . . . except for one little thing he had ignored all day. His back ache, the one he had gotten by his fall back at the docks, while fighting Magneto, was getting worst by the hour.  
  
Walking to his bathroom, he took off his shirt to inspect his back, The lower part was absolutely normal, nut the upper part was a mess. His shoulder blade area was totally beaten, purple bruises covering a large surface. It was extremely painful, and he just didn't know how he had managed to ignore it for twenty four hours. He rolled his shoulders, feeling his bones crack in an inhuman way. It didn't hurt too much, but felt . . . weird. He touched his shoulder blades. They also didn't seem normal. He felt maybe something was broken and that he would surely need to go see Jean in the med lab again. He shrugged. He hated to med lab.  
  
He looked at his back in the mirror for a long moment, finally deciding that he would only go to Jean if it hurt as much in the morning. Maybe his little healing power would do the trick, but he didn't really think so. It was too feeble to cure broken bones, since all his power had concentrated on saving him when that bullet had nearly killed him. Now, it was just strong enough to cure cuts or things like that. It would still take a while for it to become powerful again.  
  
Nathan shut the light and walked to his bed, crawling under the covers until he fell asleep. That night, his conscience didn't bother him about anything.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next day, Nathan woke up pretty late, pushed to get up by the pain in his back telling him he needed Jean's help.  
  
He put on clean clothes and walked out without doing his bed or taking the time to properly clean up. He took the elevator and reluctantly pressed the last button, to end up in the chilly underground levels. He walked to the med lab door and opened it, to see Jean sitting at her desk, filling up some files.  
  
"Hey, Jean," he said, using on tone whatsoever.  
  
"Oh, hello Nathan," the red-haired woman replied. "How was your date with Kitty?"  
  
"Ah, just fine," he said. "I was just wondering if you could check my back. When I was fighting Magneto, I sorta fell and it's been killing me since then."  
  
"Sure," Jean said, getting up from her seat. "Let me take a look."  
  
Nathan walked to the med table and sat down, pulling off his shirt. Jean walked behind him and he heard her gasp in surprise.  
  
"Nathan, we absolutely need to take some X-Rays," she said, feeling his bones with the tip of her fingers. "Something is definitely wrong."  
  
"Listen to this," Nate said, rolling his shoulders, the merciless cracking of his bones being heard again.  
  
Here, sit on this," she said, walking to the wall, a table coming out of it from a round cavity.  
  
Nathan obeyed and lay on the cold metal table on his stomach. Jean walked to a group of machines, pressing on buttons as the table sided back into the wall. There was a moment of silence, then a repetitive 'clunk' as lights flicked on in the compartment.  
  
Nate could hear Jean outside, tapping furiously on a computer's keyboard. Soon enough, the table zoomed back out, allowing Nathan to get up. Jean was still at the computer.  
  
"The X-Rays will be ready in a couple of hours," she said.  
  
"Okay," he said, ready to walk out. "I'll just be careful."  
  
"Nathan," Jean called, just before he stepped into the corridor to go back upstairs. "Are you really going to go?"  
  
"Yes," he said calmly, walking away.  
  
Jean sighed and walked back to her machines.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Nathan walked back to his room, thinking about nothing in particular, when he bumped into Rogue.  
  
"Hi Nate!" she said cheerfully. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Nothing much," he said slowly. "Just walking around."  
  
"Hey . . . is there something on your mind?" Rogue asked. "You seem . . . I don't know . . . different, somehow."  
  
Nathan grunted an affirmative response as he continued to walk.  
  
"Wanna talk about it?" asked Rogue, seeming genuinely concerned.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "I'm only going to tell this to you, and I want you to promise me you are not going to tell anything in the next twenty four hours."  
  
Rogue looked amused.  
  
"Twenty four hours, hun?" she mocked, but regained seriousness as she saw he wasn't joking. "Sure, go ahead, tell me."  
  
"I'm leaving today," he said calmly.  
  
It took a few seconds for Rogue to fully bring that information to her brain, and realize the consequences.  
  
"WHAT???" she exploded. "What about Kitty, and Max, and me, and the rest of us? You're just go-"  
  
"Rogue, listen to me," Nathan interrupted. "I'm leaving 'cause I can't stay here. I just need to move a little. I'll come back, relax. I can't explain more, but . . . just . . . I . . ."  
  
Rogue calmed down, looking at her friend's troubled face.  
  
"I'll explain to Kitty," she said. "Now go."  
  
"Thanks Rogue," Nathan said, smiling.  
  
He ran to his room and started packing. At one point, he started his computer and waited impatiently for it to connect. Once it did, he logged on to the Internet and entered the chat room where his clients where waiting. Alcatraz was there, waiting for some reason, even though the arrangement was that Nate connected only two days a week, and at four o'clock. He started the conversation, and didn't wait for a response.  
  
Alcatraz,  
  
Count me in. I arrive in Russia in two days. Be at the airport, Moscow, ten o'clock.  
  
Bait Hunter.  
  
He disconnected, and continued packing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Please review! The next chapter is coming in soon!  
  
;) 


	33. gone

Hey, I went swimming in my pool last week, just to add something on my 'crazy things I did' list. Just for some of you to understand (like you people living in the south where it's HOT), my pool was at seven degrees. It's not heated (hahaha).  
  
So here is another little story about almost nothing: Last Friday, the some nun that caught me on fanfiction gave my friend and I a personal course to show us how to use special stuff on the computer in the computer lab, and so here we are, at four thirty, learning stuff about the scanner, the different sound effects and other stuff like that, when she finally finishes, and my friend asks her is we can stay to keep on scanning her pictures we need for a computer test thingy. She said YES. Can you imagine? Me and my friend in a computer lab, alone, pretending to work? Well, again, illegally, I went on my computer account and I went on fanfiction and I checked my reviews (that's how I read yours, Blaze) and I checked my e- mails and chatted (things that are absolutely prohibited) . . . until we heard the door turn. Ha. One of the nuns came in, then we had to explain what we were doing there . . . blablabla. After that, I noticed that the first nun had entered *her* account to show us all the stuff, and that she hadn't disconnected! So I checked everything she had in her folders and I found one, only one hard test that we were supposed to have, but then we realized that she had canceled that one (darn). So that was that. Don't you find that nun is a bit too naïve with me???  
  
And I saw Matrix Reloaded, and it's cool, but some parts are a bit too digitalized, even if the movie is really great (translation: go see it, 'cause I have a Matrix fic probably coming soon).  
  
Special-section-for-thank-yous-for-my-reviewers-that-won't-be-long-this- time:  
  
Blaze (the bone crushing thing has something to do with the rest), Tigereyes (It's cool your friend is reading it too!) and JustandalwaysMo (I know exactly what you mean), THANK YOU.  
  
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"What do you mean he's GONE?" Kitty bellowed as tears started streaming down her face, a look of total desperation on her face.  
  
"Kitty, relax," Rogue said, trying to calm her friend. "Take a deep breath and I'll explain."  
  
"Where did he go? Why did he leave me?" Kitty continued, deep sobs making her stop here and there. "Why, Rogue? Tell me why! Why did he tell YOU and not me? Why didn't he at least say good bye?"  
  
Kitty grabbed a pillow and threw it to the wall. It bounced off and made everything on Jubilee's desk fall to the ground with big crashing sound. She then attempted to take another pillow to throw it, but Rogue stopped her.  
  
"Kitty stop that!" Rogue bellowed, pushing her friend against the dorm room wall.  
  
Kitty obeyed, and she stopped talking or throwing things, letting her tears fall freely on her cheeks. She leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor, holding her knees to her chest as Rogue bent down to sit in front of her.  
  
"He's not gone forever," Rogue whispered. "He's only gone away to take his mind off things. He loves you Kitty, and he's going to come back for you."  
  
Kitty looked up at her friend's face and smiled weakly.  
  
"He could have at least said good bye," she mumbled.  
  
"He couldn't tell it to you in front, because he didn't want you to dry or get worried," Rogue said, trying to reason her.  
  
"But when is he going to come back?" Kitty asked dully.  
  
Rogue looked uneasy for a moment, but she tried to hide it.  
  
"I don't know, he didn't say," she said. "It can't be too long."  
  
And with that, Kitty was satisfied. Each day that passed, she checked if Nate's car wasn't parked in the garage or that he wasn't arriving at the gates. The first week was easy enough for her, the second was a bit more of a challenge, the third was tough, but after that, she began getting more and more impatient and angry after him. She was loosing hope of his return.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Erik Lencherr, more commonly known as Magneto, got up from his chair and walked to a little counter. There, he took some sort of liquor from a bottle and poured some in a tiny glass. He walked back to his table, sitting in front of a rather large glass chessboard. He was playing against himself again, not having anything better to do in this plastic prison he had been locked in more than two months before, after his little fiasco at the docks.  
  
Again, he glared at the guard outside his cell, then moved his queen to another square on the board. He leaned back in his chair, sighed, rubbing his chin with one hand. He took an insignificant sip of his glass then moved the opposite castle to another square, tossing one of the ponds off the board. He grumpily took the piece and placed it on the side of the table.  
  
Suddenly, a humming noise was heard as Magneto saw the plastic suspension bridge getting closer to his cell door. Maybe it would be Charles this time. Beside him, lousy reporters and government people, no one entered his cell. He started guessing if it was the media or another business man trying to make him talk, as the crossing locked itself to the compartment and the door on the other side opened, and his eyes narrowed as two figures started walking on the overpass. The first was evidently Charles, being pushed in his wheelchair by another person, a middle aged, round man dressed in a beige and black uniform, visibly a guard of the prison. Magneto could clearly see that he wasn't wearing anything metallic, since even his gun was of glass.  
  
As always, Xavier looked totally sure of himself, the opposite of the media, who were always very uncertain of themselves, just like the government.  
  
Erik simply watched as the guard walked to the door, made a sign to another guard behind a glass panel on the other side of the bridge, and the door opened. The guard gave one look at Magneto before letting Charles in.  
  
"You have thirty minutes," the chubby guard said, walking to the bridge after having closed the door.  
  
Charles turned to Magneto, a faint smile playing on his lips.  
  
"Hello, Erik," said he, in a calm voice.  
  
Magneto nodded, but didn't move or speak just yet, simply motioning Charles to sit on the opposite side of the table, to play chess.  
  
"You must know why I'm here," Charles said, replacing some of the chess pieces. "And so I'll go directly to the point."  
  
Magneto smiled.  
  
"What were you doing at the docks?" the professor asked calmly.  
  
Erik stayed silent, moving his first piece.  
  
"Why don't you just take the information from my mind?" he asked.  
  
"You know I don't like doing that, but if I'm forced too, I will," the professor continued, in the same calm way, moving his piece.  
  
Erik moved another of his pieces, and took another little sip from his glass before answering.  
  
"I was waiting, if you must know," he said. "Waiting for visitors."  
  
"And who were those visitor?" the professor asked, getting just a little impatient.  
  
"That's not that important, since they aren't exactly even on my side," Magneto said. "But they're not exactly on yours, either. They were the ones who blew up the docks not too long ago."  
  
"So it wasn't you?" Charles asked.  
  
Magneto shook his head slowly, as he would to a little child.  
  
"And why did they do that?" the professor asked. "What good did it do?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Erik said. "They don't tell me a lot about their plans . . . but I think it was to scare someone."  
  
"Us?" the professor continued.  
  
"I don't know," Magneto sighed. "But they're not going to harm you and your X-Men unless you get in their way."  
  
The professor growled.  
  
"And who was that boy at the docks?" he asked, changing the subject a little bit.  
  
"Hooligan?" Magneto asked. "He is quite a number, don't you think? . . . Mystique found him not too long ago, in France. We sent him a ticket and he came over."  
  
The professor didn't say anything, waiting to hear more.  
  
"He's very, very faithful," Magneto continued, proud of his new recruit. "And his power is very useful against you and your X-Men. We certainly don't want him to fall in the wrong hands."  
  
"What is his power, exactly?" the professor said, continuing to ask his questions.  
  
"He controls the X-Gene, and so can 'turn it off', so a mutant can't use his powers for the time he wishes," Erik said. "I'm not sure, but I also think he can 'steal' some powers . . . you're the one to figure out why his name is Hooligan."  
  
The professor sighed, leaning into his wheelchair.  
  
"Well, there's one last thing I need to ask you," he said, ever so calmly. "What did you say to Nathan?"  
  
"Why do you ask?" Magneto replied quickly.  
  
"Because he left yesterday, and I don't want any harm to arrive to him," the professor said.  
  
"I only told him he wasn't part of your family and wasn't part of his own," Magneto said quizzically.  
  
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" the professor grumbled.  
  
"You'll figure it our soon enough . . . old friend," Magneto said. "Our time is up."  
  
And with that, the chubby guard appeared on the other side of the door, and walked to the professor. Charles gave Erik a little nod, before being pushed slowly through the crossing. Magneto smiled as the mobile bridge started moving, and the door on the other wall closed behind the guard and his visitor. With a grunt, he drank the rest of the content of his little glass in one gulp.  
  
"That boy still has a couple of unreliable surprises for you, Charles," he whispered, a smile growing wider on his face.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Jean, holding a folder in one hand, walked down the hall to Nathan's room, but found it empty. Doubt creeping over her, she walked to his dorm, but John and Bobby both confirmed that he hadn't slept here since they caught Magneto.  
  
Jean looked for Nate all over the school, to finally stop and ask Kitty, who was in the common room, if she knew where he was.  
  
"Oh, he left," she simply said. "He'll be back . . . but I don't exactly know when."  
  
"He just couldn't have chosen a better moment to leave," Jean muttered, opening the folder to look at the X-Rays she had taken.  
  
"What's that?" Jubilee asked, turning her head from the television.  
  
"X-Rays," Jean simply replied. "Nathan's got something that looks like a fractured shoulder blade, and now he's gone. That's just great."  
  
"He's got a healing power, no?" said a gruff voice coming from one of the sofas.  
  
"Well, yes Logan, but it's not at all strong like yours yet," Jean said, turning towards the Wolverine, who was sitting in a large armchair, sipping a beer.  
  
"Didn't you say you were going to go back to Alberta?" Jean asked, looking at him.  
  
Logan turned towards her, a fake look of surprise on his face.  
  
"What, Jean?" he exclaimed. "You *want* me to go?"  
  
Jean smiled, shaking her head before walking out of the room, just to go back to the med lab. There, she took the X-Rays and pinned them on a board, to see them clearly. She put on her glasses and frowned, noticing some irregular fractures on his shoulder blades.  
  
She heard the med lab door slide open, and Ororo's voice being heard.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked.  
  
"Checking Nathan's X-Rays," Jean answered, feeling her friend approach to take a look. "Look at this," she said, pointing at his shoulder blades.  
  
Lucky he fell on his shoulders, because if he hadn't, he would have broken his neck," she explained. "But now, the bones in his shoulders are cracking in a very uneven pattern. I don't understand it. And his healing power isn't helping it get better."  
  
"Wait till he comes back to continue your researches," Storm suggested.  
  
"Yeah, you must be right."  
  
And with that, Jean took the X-Rays and placed them back in the folder, before placing it back on a shelf.  
  
"I'll wait till he gets back," she said, before walking out with Ororo.  
  
~~~~~  
  
One month later . . .  
  
Scott walked down the hallway, nodding at a few students passing by. He was just on his way to the professor's office. Charles had called him with his power, because he needed the 'older' X-Men in his office right away. He was probably going to send them on a new mission to recruit another mutant, probably.  
  
He opened the door and saluted the professor before standing behind the chair in which Jean was sitting.  
  
"I don't know if you've noticed lately, but there are some odd things happening in Russia these days," the professor said. "These activities are not related to mutants, but strong legislative people have been said to be related to these actions. See here."  
  
The professor turned on the television, and all turned to see what the news reporter was talking about. It was a man in his late twenties, wearing winter clothes in what obviously was a very cold place. 'Moscow, Russia' was written in a corner of the screen.  
  
"The Russian forces have become aware of a terrorist group stealing jets across the country, and bombarding secret bases the governor, Ivan Carloversky had failed to talk about to the military forces. These bases are said to be the headquarters of traders working in the country. The rumors are that Carloversky is the one behind it all. On the other side, Muscovites are starting to rebel against their dictator as seven thousand citizens have died of cold in the capital, these past months, due to the extreme price of the heating, obligated by Carloversky. The government is talking about taking away his power, while still trying to identify those mystery thieves stealing jets and bombs across the country. If these thieves are terrorist, the chances are that they could destroy five major cities in matter of days. Let us pray that they do not have hostile intentions, as the sates may as well be in danger. Philip Moregner, Moscow."  
  
The professor shut the television and there was a moment of silence in the room.  
  
They couldn't do anything about the political conflicts going on at that moment, but they still kept a lookout, just in case those people stealing jets and bombs were truly terrorists. If they were, they were ready to protect the U.S. But these people weren't terrorists. In fact, a great part of those actions were taking place under Nate's supervision. Yes, elite rebel troups were being led by a teenage boy and a group of revolutionary communists.  
  
When all of that was finished, Nathan finally decided to go back home . . . with five millions in his pocket.  
  
And so that is when Nathan came back, two months later.  
  
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In the upcoming chapter, I explain what Nate did in Russia, and I know it's a bit hard to believe that Nate was 'leading' them, but I'll explain everything, don't worry.  
  
Ah, and more trouble is on the way, for those who want to know!  
  
;) 


	34. Russia, there and back again

Sorry for the time I took to update! I was just stuck with a gigantic pile of huge homework for the end of the school year (gracefully set by my beloved teachers) and I now need to study for my exams (helphelphelp), but it's impossible for me to study without stopping to write a little, so don't worry too much. I'll have to delay 'Unfinished Business' a little, but it'll be out in not too long, I just need to write a couple of more chapters for 'this'.  
  
About my Matrix fic, I think it's going to be even more delayed because, for now, I prefer writing X-Men stuff. But it is going to appear some time in the next few weeks, when I have the time to spend on it.  
  
For those who noticed little things that were left aside in the whole story, well they're all going to come out in the next chapters. For example the sheet of paper about Nate's blood analysis, and his X-Rays, and what Magneto said, Hooligan and bablabla I think it's going to be fun.  
  
Thanks to all my reviewers:  
  
Ice Phoenix, JustandalwaysMo, Remnants-2011, Blaze, StarzOfPromise, Catz and amethist  
  
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Chapter 34:  
  
It was fall, already. On the grounds of the school, the trees were loosing their colored leaves, and they fell slowly to the ground, pushed by a slow breeze Storm wasn't responsible for. Time had passed since Nathan had left, two months to be exact, and the residents of the mansion were slowly getting used to his absence, some even thinking he wasn't coming back. But they were all wrong, because one day, close to nightfall, when the sun was giving out its last rays on the grounds, he came back.  
  
He stood at the gate, staring at the mansion so far away behind it, a strange smile playing on his lips. Kitty had seen him from the window and had ran outside to greet him, but she had stopped dead in her tracks a few meters away from the gate on which he was now leaning. Some of the others had also seen him at the window, but were waiting on the front porch for him to arrive, not wanting to go run outside, like Kitty, in the bitter cold that was sweeping over them.  
  
Kitty had stopped, and had looked at him, a look of confusion on her face. Nathan hadn't moved, his eyes on the mansion, and many would have thought he hadn't even sensed Kitty coming. Getting over the fact that he seemed turned into stone, Kitty finally opened the gate and walked to him.  
  
"Hi, Kitty," he had said, finally looking at her with his charming, yet strange purple eyes. "I'm back."  
  
Kitty had jumped in his arms, a smile on her face, ignoring the heavy bag he was holding that she had made fall to the ground. They had walked together up to the door, where others and the professor were waiting. All had noticed the time the professor had taken to finally welcome Nathan home, and some students had even said that he looked doubtful, looking at the boy.  
  
Nate walked directly up to his room, saying he was tiered and would talk tomorrow, even though all had a feeling that he wouldn't. He kissed Kitty good-bye, even though she desperately wanted to stay with him and was even more furious when he refused. He shut the door and let the bag slip to the side of his bed, before he pulled off his shoes and socks and finally landed on the fresh covers, a smile on his face.  
  
Downstairs, many were very curious about his comeback, and the professor was the most eager to get to know what had happened with him, because looking into Nate's eyes when he had walked up to the mansion, there had been something that had clicked in his powerful mind. Something so insignificant had taken his attention, and he had realized that so many things had changed into that boy's mentality. Many things had changed, and he knew that they weren't allowed to be left abandoned, because he sensed that something was starting to get very wrong. What Magneto had told him maybe had more importance than it seemed.  
  
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Kitty walked back to her room, looking flabbergasted. Jubilee and Rogue just stared at her as she walked through the door and jumped on her bed.  
  
"So, he's finally back," Jubilee said slowly.  
  
"I don't know why but I barely recognized him," Kitty said, looking at the ceiling.  
  
From her corner, Rogue, an open book on her lap, smiled, looking back out the window. She too had noticed a major change in her friend's attitude. He seemed . . . more relaxed and in peace with everything, while keeping a look that said that he knew things others didn't, and that it was better that others didn't know that information.  
  
Glimpsing at Kitty, she smiled and went back to her reading.  
  
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Nathan didn't move from his bed, his eyes slowly moving around the room as he checked to see it anything had changed since his last stay. Nothing seemed to have been touched. He hadn't left anything belonging to himself, and all the things in his bag were the only things he hadn't had had to abandoned during his trip.  
  
He jumped to his feet and, sitting on the tip of his feet, he opened his bag to pull out its contents to place them at their respectful place. The first thing was his inseparable portable computer and it's equipment. Everything had been placed in a metallic case so it wouldn't be damaged, and he placed it on his desk, to open it carefully and took out his equipment, before returning to his bag and pulling out other things: a picture of his parents, two books, clothes, a gun and three fake passports he had used to facilitate his movements between Russia and Europe. There was also a pile of papers he immediately placed on his desk.  
  
His trip had been unforgettable, and jumping on his bed again, he thought of it for a long time before being able to fall asleep.  
  
The day of his departure had been horrifyingly easy for him, and he found himself being able of abandoning everything with an ease beyond understanding. After packing, he had discretely walked to the main door, after everyone was in their beds, and from there took his car out of the garage and simply drove off without any second thought. He drove a great part of the night and arrived in New York in the wee hours of the morning, when the sun was barely showing itself beyond the line of horizon. He ate there, exchanged his car for another one, spent a couple of hours clarifying his business in an Internet café and then drove to the airport, where he parked his car and took the first plane to Moscow, traveling first class.  
  
The day of his arrival in Russia was etched in Nate's mind. His simple bag on his shoulder, he had passed the doors of the first section of the arrivers, stood in front of the crowd and almost immediately recognized his client, Alcatraz, or should he say, Michael Romanov.  
  
The man was very tall and well built, had dark hair, skin and eyes. He was wearing a black turtleneck and blue jeans, trying to 'blend in'. Three of his friends were with him, and they obviously had weapons, but Nate didn't doubt his actions one second. He walked up to Alcatraz and stood in front of him, half of an amused smile playing on his lips. His client ignored him, looking passed the boy in front of him, waiting to see a taller, stronger, accompanied man looking like a criminal mastermind. When he finally realized the boy in front of him was in deed Bait Hunter, his convinced look failed him and he got almost desolated. Of course, his contact wasn't at all what he had expected.  
  
He started yelling things to his little friends, showing his frustration. Nathan, having studied Russian in the past weeks, knew the basis of the language and understood half of his foul speech. Nevertheless, he walked up to him, to his now angry looking client, and smiled.  
  
"Good morning," he had said in Russian. "You must be Alcatraz."  
  
"Yes, and you must be the one who fooled me," he responded, angry as ever. "I assure you that I am doing all I can to stop myself from shooting you right there, *child*."  
  
"Your attitude deceives me greatly," Nathan had said, indifferent to his attempt to intimidate him. "I am the one you know as Bait Hunter, and I am here to work for the money you promised me. You, on the other hand, are doing this for your country, and I suggest that you change that attitude of yours if you wish our union to work. I might look young but I assure you that the money you are spending for having me here will not be a waste of your and certainly not my time."  
  
And with that he walked toward the exit, followed by his interlocutor that had been surprised by his little speech. He had been led to a car, and brought to their headquarters after a serious talk with Alcatraz. After a good night's sleep, he had joined five other members of revolutionary groups in a long meeting where he had been informed about what was going to happen during the following month.  
  
During the first week, they had received cargos of weaponry that they sent out to all their units. They had tested the machinery and installed everything that they were going to use. In total, seventy-two bases were established everywhere in Russia, all a fair distance from the borders. The military bases they were supposed to attack all contained weapons that stopped them from simply blowing them down, because it would cause much too much devastation. Nathan and Alcatraz controlled everything from their hideout in Moscow, but after the first attack, they started moving around.  
  
The plan was too steal military jets and bombs that were going to be traded at the borders with other countries, and for that they needed to infiltrate the secret bases in which these weapons were in storage. When doing this, they would catch the attention of the Russian forces, and they would realize that something fishy was going on. They pushed the citizens of Moscow to create another diversion by protesting against the heating price that had killed much too many, and so the governor was given even more trouble.  
  
The plan was flawless, and it was during the second week that the attacks started. To their dismay, the Russian forces hit back and were ready to shoot down their jets, but they got away without too much trouble.  
  
The people stealing the jets were qualified men and women, twelve in total, trained especially for their mission. The first step of the plan was to infiltrate some of them in the base so they could do their work, which consisted of entering the jets and flying them to a designated spot. A second group of men had to create a diversion while they did this and Nate volunteered more than a few times to do so, with about fifty other revolutionaries. It was when doing that that he changed so much. In that position, he saw people die without him being able to do anything to prevent it, and it helped him lower his consideration that he couldn't always stop things from happening, no matter how hard he tried. There would always be something that he would have to leave behind somewhere.  
  
During his whole 'mission', Nathan unconsciously gained more control over his mutations. He could now create a vaster amount of weaponry by his gift of materializing what the others thought real. His physical aspect had stopped changing, except for the eyes, who kept moving from purple to green, and emerald to violet again. He guessed his healing power had improved since he no longer felt the pain in his shoulder blades, even though they still cracked chillingly when he stretched or moved them certain ways.  
  
The rest of the mission had been relatively 'fun', except for a time when Nate had been caught in a gunfire and a couple of times when he had had other similar problems. In the last base they had 'visited', they had found multiple important documents concerning people doing illegal trading, and stuff about multiple governments working on projects to do with mutants. There had been many papers about that and Nate had kept most of them.  
  
The rest of the mission was locked in Nathan's mind, in a place even professor Xavier couldn't reach. These things, that he had seen, done, heard, seen or linked too him in any other way, had touched him so deeply that they were almost part of his personality, and that is what the professor had sensed in him, the change he had experienced.  
  
It was how -some might say- he had become another person. He wasn't the same boy, the same mutant that had joined the school not that long ago.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Cracking his shoulders, Nathan got up from his bed, on which he had fallen asleep, and checked his watch to see that it was only something like three in the morning. The time shift wasn't having a very good effect on him.  
  
He walked to his desk, where his papers were pilled up and started separating them. A pile was for the information he needed to destroy, another was to bring to the bank, and the last one was to be read and reread to find more info he needed on what he had found out in Russia.  
  
He sat down after having separated every sheet, the last pile next to him as he read the first page. It was a list of some sort, calling out people of the government working on the 'mutant problem'. Nate frowned seeing how many Americans were in it.  
  
" Richard Vicer, William Stryker, Allan McGregor, Michael Ruthor. . . all American citizens working for the government," he muttered, throwing the paper in the pile of documents to destroy.  
  
Jumping on his bed, he stared at the ceiling again. Now that he had calmed down, he was ready to stay at Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters . . . but how long would he arrive to stay inactive? Even Nate couldn't answer.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Wrote everything in a bit of a hurry because this part wasn't extremely important. I will now jump to more significant plots.  
  
Review! Review! Please! 


	35. a letter

So . . . middle of the exam period for me. I did five in the last two days. Six to go until Wednesday. (please pray for me! Not that I'm bad at school or anything . . .) I will now go back to my passionate studies . . . ;) But chapter 36 is very close of being finished and it is coming soon too (yay for all of us)  
  
I was just thinking the other day about people who write 'Rouge' instead of 'Rogue'. Did you know that 'Rouge' means 'Red' in French? Do the authors who write that know it?  
  
Thanks to my reviewers! I love you all!  
  
XDivas, Tigereyes, Remnants-2011, Escaflowne and Catz  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Chapter 35:  
  
Standing on the wall separating the school property to the rest of the world, Mystique and Hooligan looked over the grounds, their eyes stopping here and there on a few students walking around, talking and playing. None of them suspected that they were being watched. Hooligan bent down, crouching on the wall in order not to e seen from the mansion. They stayed silent for a long while, seeming to be looking for something. Their patience was soon rewarded, as another group of students came walking out of the school, towards the basketball court.  
  
"Is it him?" Mystique asked to her friend.  
  
Hooligan took the time to recognize Bobby, Pyro, Jubilee and Rogue before his eyes fell on Nathan. He frowned angrily, and nodded absentmindedly to Mystique, who eyed the boy they were referring to.  
  
"But we've seen much stronger mutants, Raven," Hooligan said disappointedly. "Why this one?"  
  
Mystique sat beside him without answering immediately.  
  
"Magneto refused to say much," she said finally. "But he did specify that there was something strange with him, and that he wasn't exactly like other mutants, but it wasn't that he was all powerful or anything like that. It's something to do with the X-Gene and his blood pattern."  
  
"Well that's specific," Hooligan mumbled, rolling his eyes in discontentment.  
  
"I don't know, okay!" Mystique threw at him. "He said there was something to do with what he found out about that boy, before he was captured and brought back to that prison. He said it was important, because he said Xavier was wrong about everything about him, and not just about his little hobbies."  
  
Hooligan smirked, looking back at the students on the ground.  
  
"But how did they find us at the docks?" he asked suddenly. "He had his helmet and we weren't doing anything wrong . . . yet."  
  
"Xavier said something about another psychic entering that boy's head, and you know, he sort of used that psychic's power to find us," Mystique answered. "But Magneto assured me that he didn't know anything about that psychic. He said that if there was a mutant capable of passing the professor's mental defence system around the school, he would have known and called that mutant to join the brotherhood immediately. But he says no such mutant exists."  
  
"But-?" Hooligan started, brutally interrupted by Mystique.  
  
"Stop bothering me with your questions now," she said. "I'll answer them later, not now. Now come."  
  
They jumped down the wall and walked towards the main gates. There, Hooligan took a litter out of his pocket and placed in the mailbox while Mystique walked further away, to a car parked on the other side of the road.  
  
"Come on, now," she said when she opened the driver's place, and morphed into a human. "We need to stay low for a while now, until Magneto informs us of the next step of his plan."  
  
Hooligan gave one last look at the school, frowned and walked around the car, to the passenger's seat. The car started and they drove off without anyone knowing they had been there.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Nate sat on the side of a bench facing the basketball court, watching his friends tossing the ball around. He wanted to play, just like when he was captain of his team in Ontario, but something in him pulled him back. He needed to think about what was going to happen if he stayed at the school. He would have a bed, food, friends, classes and would learn to control his powers. What more could he ask for? Of course, on the negative side, he would have to abandon his criminal activities and stop running around, something that was very hard for him. He would also need to stop buying too much things because it would catch the eye of the professor, who would then discover about his account and would positively ask him how he had gotten that money, and as a result, everyone would know about his criminal status. He didn't want to imagine what would happen then.  
  
Half hypnotized by the basketball's coming and going, Nate didn't really notice Rogue arrive in his direction and sit beside him, and that is why he jumped when she spoke.  
  
"Hi, Nate," she said calmly, surprised by his reaction.  
  
"Oh, hello Rogue," he said, regaining composure. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I was going to ask you the same thing," she said, smiling. "I'm fine."  
  
"Same for me," he answered dully.  
  
"I was just watching you and I was wondering if you wanted to talk about something," She said, looking at him.  
  
"About what?" he asked, leaning on his elbows as he followed the basketball's routine.  
  
Rogue was about to say that she didn't care, because her only reason to be there was to actually hear him speak. She felt all strange inside when she thought about the possibility that she was the only one to whom he talked so freely to, but she decided not to let her emotions fly out of her mouth, and loose his confidence.  
  
"I don't know . . . Whatever's on your mind," she said vaguely, crossing her legs sideways so she could see him better.  
  
"On my mind . . ." Nate repeated coolly, thinking about it for a second. "Boff . . . I have too much choice, and I don't want to pick a subject. You talk to me. Tell me about what happened while I was in R- . . . out of town."  
  
"Nothing really *happened*," she said. "The professor planned a meeting with the senate and he's going to leave any time soon with Jean . . . John painted all of Scott's visors bright pink to revenge himself on a stupid little thing that had been refused to him . . . Jubilee broke a vase . . . a new student arrived . . . Logan keeps pissing off Scott every occasion he is given . . . Nothing really happened."  
  
Nathan chuckled.  
  
"So . . . you are going to stay now, aren't you?" Rogue asked at her turn.  
  
"I was just thinking about that when you arrived," he said. "And . . . I think I am if no other problems arrive."  
  
Rogue seemed only half contented, but tried not to show it too much.  
  
There was a moment of silence between them, broken by Scott who was just passing by.  
  
"Hey, you two, could you get the mail, please?" he asked, seeing that they weren't doing anything very interesting.  
  
Both teenagers got up with a little sigh and started walking towards the gate, that was still a few minutes of walk away. Nathan stayed silent again, thinking about his choice, while Rogue wondered if she should open another subject of conversation, but it took her so long to decide what to talk about that they had already got to the mailbox. Nate opened it, took out a pack of letters and turned around as they started walking back towards the mansion. He flipped a few, reading to who they were addressed, when his eyes fell on one with no stamp or address, only a name. His name.  
  
"Who would send me a letter?" he asked out loud, Rogue looking over his shoulder to see the envelope.  
  
He handed her the pack of other letters and made a step away to read his in private.  
  
~Who even knows I'm here?~ he asked himself, tearing one of the sides of the parchment.  
  
Only one line was written on the folded sheet of paper that he found inside the envelope, and it only made his eyebrows rise. He sighed and shook his head.  
  
"What is it?" Rogue asked, not wanting to pry in his business too much, but wanting to let him know that he could talk to her.  
  
"Listen to this," he said, opening the paper again. " 'You are not part of their family. You aren't even part of your own.' It's the exact same thing Magneto told me. Why? The brotherhood truly concocts weird intimidation letters, and it's really not working."  
  
"Maybe you should show it to the professor," Rogue suggested. "He might know something."  
  
"No need to bug him about that," Nathan said, stuffing the paper in his pocket. "I'm sure he has better things to do than rest on my case *again*."  
  
"Fine, but I still think you should tell him. He might already know things about it," Rogue answered, stuffing her gloved hands in her pockets as she looked back in front of her.  
  
Nathan grumbled something to himself.  
  
"Yeah," he said, a bit louder. "And I have to tell him that I'm staying now."  
  
Rogue left Nate when they arrived at the mansion, to deliver the mail, while Nathan made his way up to the professor's office. It didn't take him too long to reach it since he knew the way by heart. He knocked on the door and was solicited to enter by the professor himself, seeing that he had probably felt him arrive thanks to his power.  
  
He entered, noticing that the professor was still looking at him with light suspicion. Nathan knew he felt something, and prayed hat he would never find out.  
  
"Hello, Nathan," he said finally. "Have a seat."  
  
Nathan did just that, and tried to look as if what he had done during his absence was nothing at all.  
  
"I'm just here to tell you that I am going to try and stay as a student now," he said quickly. "I just needed to go away for some time but I'm ready to stay now."  
  
"Good," the professor said, still looking at him in a lightly curious way. "Do you have anything else to tell me?"  
  
Nathan froze, wondering if he had figured something out.  
  
"No . . ." he said slowly, starting to play with the rim of his sleeve. "Ah! Yes, maybe!" he said, finding something to talk about. "I received a strange letter you might want to see."  
  
He took the folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the professor, who read it once, and twice, a small frown forming on his forehead as he handed it back to Nathan.  
  
"It's Mystique," he said not very quickly. "Magneto told you the same thing, didn't he? . . . yes, he told me the same thing too."  
  
"What does it mean?" Nathan asked, wondering why Magneto kept repeating the same thing.  
  
"I have no idea," Xavier said. "But I'll try to figure it out. In the mean time, I think Jean wants you to get another medical exam soon, so you better see her about that. She wanted to check your shoulders to see if their all right."  
  
"Thank you, professor," Nathan said, getting up and walking to the door. "And don't forget to tell me if you find something out about this letter."  
  
He closed the door, walked back outside to play basketball with his friends, trying to forget that weird things were going on. He needed to find peace, even if it was just for a moment. Was he going to be able to find it at the school?  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Next chapter I find fun . . . the little girl from his dream comes back to chat. By the way, the story ends on a total cliff-hanger at chapter 40 . . . It's already written (how stupid). Now I need to fill up the space between this chapter and that one.  
  
Reviews are so very well welcomed, you just won't believe!  
  
;) 


	36. Chat with Destiny

Now, I want to apologize for the errors you might have found all along this story. They will all be checked once I finish this story, because I don't have the time to check them right now . . . And I wanted to update sooner, but I just couldn't . . .  
  
Special section for my reviewers:  
  
Shade: So you're Tigereyes' friend! Well . . . nice for you to have reviewed! Oh, and Max is 'temporarily out of service' caused by the boredom and 'unimportantness' he is reflecting towards the rest of my story.  
  
Xdivas: Well . . . actually, five chapters of the sequel are already done. (muahahah)  
  
Tigereyes: lol. You two seem to be very good friends  
  
Angel-in-disguise: I am taking your advice! I have found a beta reader! And I have a couple of reasons for my common misspellings. First of all, my computer corrects stuff without me noticing. Second of all, sometimes I don't realize some of my mistakes (like 'stagger to the ground', I have no idea why I wrote that. My mistake.) And last, but not least, the only reason that could maybe be lightly considered as a good one is that English is not my first language. But I will correct everything as soon as I have time. Sorry.  
  
Skibummat: Well I was just making everything up just like that . . . but I will change it.  
  
Prostar99: Hi! Now, for my explanation, *this* story comes before X2, and the *sequel* of this story is after the movie. Nightcrawler, Gambit and Beast are all in it (I'm still hesitating on Syrin, though). For my favorite characters . . . (*thinks really hard*) . . . Wolvie, Mystique and Deathstryke are my top three, I think (bad mutants rock!). But I also like Rogue, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jason (Stryker's son. He's really freaky and cool) . . .  
  
Gr33n Pixie: I'm glad you like it! I didn't want Nate to be just a normal mutant with a weird power, that's why I also made him a criminal!  
  
Blaze: Hey! I want to read the 'darker' version of your story! I hope it's coming soon! (And I'm getting my exam results tomorrow . . . ohoh)  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Chapter 36:  
  
"I really don't think I need a medical exam right now, thanks," Nathan said, trying to get away from Jean.  
  
"I'm serious Nathan, I want you in my office by tomorrow or else," the redhead said, following him. "It's not an option, it's an obligation for any mutant who lives here."  
  
Nate stopped in his tracks and sighed, looking at Jean with a big sad puppy face.  
  
"Please? I really don't feel bad and I'm sick of going in there," he said, hiding the real reasons. "The bullet wound is fine and my back only cracks weird, that's all. It doesn't hurt."  
  
Jean shook her head.  
  
"Nope, I want you in the med lab by the end of the week," she said walking away.  
  
She disappeared at the end of the hallway, leaving Nate being one of the last students in the ansion. All the others were outside, enjoying one of the last windless days of fall, before winter arrived and they would all need to wear coats again.  
  
"Damnit," he whispered, jogging back to his room.  
  
He arrived to it panting like a marathon jogger, locked the door and rushed to the bathroom. He flicked on the light and turned towards the large mirror above the sink. Around it were full of medical supplies speared out in a very outmoded way. A little worried look appeared on his face as he grimaced to take his shirt off, his back still making inhuman cracking sounds.  
  
The sight was really strange to see: his first bullet wound was almost gone and he didn't need to wear a bandage anymore. His scars from his car accident were old news, but there were still three thin parallel lines passing diagonally on his side. The other wounds were the reason he was avoiding Jean so much, because he didn't want her to see them. On his right shoulder was a very deep opened wound made by a blade, during his stay in Russia. Nate had no souvenir whatsoever about it, and all he knew was that he had gotten it when he had participated in a raid back in Russia. He had gotten messy stitches that showed a lot, but they were soon to disappear completely thanks to his healing factor. On his let side were five pale round marks made by small bullets. They too were to disappear in a couple of days. The last thing he didn't want Jean to see was something he had done in a thoughtless act of stupidity: A tattoo on the upper part of his left shoulder, in his back.  
  
It represented two vined-up acanthus leaves, which are part of some sort of Mediterranean shrub, the acanthus. The leaves were large, segmented, and thistle-like, and those who looked closer could see tiny letters engraved on the leaves' sides, forming the words Vista interiorem terrae rectificando invenies operae lapidem, a saying Alcatraz had suggested to him after having heard the story of his life. On the second side of the leaf were only the initials, v.i.t.r.i.o.l. and both meant the same thing. V.i.t.r.i.o.l. were the initials of a formula famous among alchemists, which meant descend in the depths of the earth, by distilling you will find the heart of creation. These initials formed a word expressing the law of a process of transformation. In other words, the return of a person to the most intimate starting point of a human being; which comes back to say, descend to the most intimate starting point in yourself and find the invisible stone on which you will be able to build a new personality, a new person.  
  
If he focused really hard, he could use his healing power to make it disappear, but for now he would have liked to keep it.  
  
Nate closed his eyes and tried to focus on the wound in his shoulder. He felt a strange cold sensation freeze his shoulder, at the exact place where his wound was. When he opened his eyes, it was nearly totally gone, but Jean would still notice. He did the same for his other wounds, but using his feeble power that hard took away all his strength. Looking one last time at his watch, he read five thirty and fell asleep on his bed without further notice.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
It was nighttime, and all were sleeping in their beds. Nate still hadn't returned to the dorm room yet, and so was alone in his room, still asleep because of the effort he had taken to hide his wounds. No one was there to wake him from the nightmare he was having, one so similar to a previous dream he had had during his last stay at the mansion.  
  
As always, a halo rendered everything lightly fogged up, and this time, the dominant color was gray. Many people were on what seemed to be a rooftop. All were wearing black, and were looking down to the road below. Between some of theses people, from under one of their cloaks came out a little girl, the only one wearing white clothing. Her hair fell loose on her shoulders, and her eyes were an indefinite color because of the fog. Her white summer dress moving to an invisible breeze, she walked forward, looking at Nathan straight in the eyes.  
  
"Why did you leave, Nathan?" she said, her voice so calm and beautiful, that made you feel strange the second you heard it, and filling you with an undetermined terror at the same time. "I want to see you when I wake up. I'm asleep . . . mommy's going to wake me up soon because it's all just a bad dream."  
  
"Who are you?" Nathan tried to say, tossing and turning absentmindedly between his covers, back in real life.  
  
The little girl now looked slightly upset.  
  
"You don't recognize me?" she asked, a tremble in her voice. Her face became filled with sadness. "Just like daddy, finally. He never recognizes me either."  
  
"You talk to him like this? In his sleep?" Nathan asked mentally, not being able to really hear himself.  
  
"Yes. It's the only way I can use now because I'm still asleep," she said, sitting down on a step that appeared out of nowhere. "Will you come and wake me, Nathan?"  
  
Questions rushed to Nate's head, almost waking him. Who was she? A dream? A simple dream? How did she know him? Was she only part of his imagination? His conscience was playing tricks on his again? No. It simply couldn't be.  
  
"Are you real?" he thought, imaginary wind blowing through the little girl's hair as she smiled and giggled at his question.  
  
"Yes and no," she said mischievously. "I'm real, but not real at the same time because I'm still sleeping. I want to wake up now. I'm ready. I've been unprepared for so long, but now I'm ready. I want to wake up."  
  
"You're asleep . . . like me?"  
  
"No," she answered. "Much more asleep than you, and if mommy doesn't wake me soon, I might sleep forever. But I want you to be there when I come round."  
  
"But who are you?"  
  
"You'll remember in time. You weren't there before. Mommy just knows a little. Daddy doesn't know at all, but he doesn't know me too. I tell him to come back home, but he won't listen. He's too stubborn to understand. And you too . . . you didn't listen to me last time . . . please come and save us before it's too late. Come and save me. I'm so afraid. You need to know the truth."  
  
"What truth?"  
  
"The one the others are hiding from you, even if they don't know it at all. You have to figure it out for yourself . . ."  
  
The little girl smiled, and the surroundings changed, the rooftops being replaced by a garden in which bushes and bushes of white roses where growing.  
  
"I couldn't hear you last time I talked to you, because the old man was stopping me. But now, I know he's sleeping, we can talk until he wakes up. If he knows I'm here, he'll be very, very mad. I don't think he likes me very much, probably because I keep talking to people in their sleep . . . but it's just that I have nothing else to do. Can't you imagine? Sleeping forever! It's so hard for me not to see the others, and talk. Most of them, all of them, they don't realize that I'm real. Only you, because you asked me. You believe me, don't you?"  
  
Nate mentally accepted that fact, but didn't say anything, just watching the little girl. She stared back.  
  
"I know what you're thinking . . ." she said slowly. "And I'm not 'working' for anyone . . . like the old man thought. He hurt my head last time, and used me to find another mutant that wasn't doing anything wrong. That's not very nice, both for me and him."  
  
She paused, and the scenery behind her changed, the white roses being replaced by a sandy landscape in which trees were sprouting here and there. Suddenly, for a totally unknown reason, Nathan just got scared. He looked at the little girl, but she looked totally undisturbed.  
  
"Don't worry," she said calmly. "That's just Fear on the second floor, practicing her power. I can't avoid catching her brainwaves, and so you're affected by her power."  
  
"Where are you?" Nate asked, feeling the fear in him finally stop.  
  
The little girl looked down for a second, probably wondering if she should tell him.  
  
"I'm locked in the basement . . . It's cold, so silent that it scares you and dark. Very dark. There aren't any lights when I'm alone. You're thinking it's not pleasant, and it's not, but they have no other choice. Mom's hiding me The people with white uniforms want to burry me with dead people under the ground. But mom has a lot of faith that I'm going to wake up, and I believe her because I'm ready."  
  
"When are you going to wake up?" Nathan thought.  
  
"When the next generation is ready," she said.  
  
'What next generation? Ready for what?' Nate mentally asked.  
  
"Mutants . . . ready for . . . the future," the little girl said, her voice drifting away. "I'll only wake up for that. And I'm ready for that. We all are . . . ready to fight for what we believe in."  
  
"When is that time? Why are you talking to me? How do you know me? Who are you really?" Nathan asked, tossing ad turning more furiously in his bed.  
  
The little girl was about to open her mouth when she froze and a worried look came upon her angelic face.  
  
"Oh no, the old man knows I'm here . . . he's coming to get me," She said, getting up and turning around.  
  
"What's your name?" Nathan asked as one last desperate question.  
  
"I need to go . . ."  
  
"Your name!"  
  
"Good Bye Nathan"  
  
"Please, your name!"  
  
But all just disappeared, being replaced by a black void. Nathan opened his eyes, hearing footsteps in the hallway. It was Jean and the professor. Both barged inside his room, looking at him sternly.  
  
"What happened?" both asked as others rushed into the doorway, wondering what was going on.  
  
Panting heavily, Nathan just stared at the wide-eyed, taking a second to fully take conception that what had happened was all real. A joyful voice in his head laughed, proving everything.  
  
"It's me, Nathan . . . Destiny."  
  
Nathan smiled as the voice disappeared into his mind. The others stared at him, wondering why he was smiling like that, but he didn't say anything. Dreams like that were better left unsaid.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Please, o please do *not* confound Destiny with another character already invented by Stan Lee (something like a 'blind seer' named Destiny). *This* Destiny is an O/C and belongs only to me. She is a very important character in my sequel, and what she says are clues to what's to come . . .  
  
Review! Review! Review! 


	37. Unwanted Reality

My computer hates me. He deleted this chapter, chapter 38, 39 and what I had started of chapter 40, just when I was about to do myself security copies. But I am smarter. After cursing three million times, I found some of my stuff, it was a bit erased here and there, but I'm okay (*_*). I lost the cool begging I had for chap. 38, but it's okay, I'll redo it. That is why I propose to everyone to do like me: do a copy that you throw in the recycle bin (of the computer). You can go get it if you loose your work. (I am one lucky author).  
  
Harry Potter is out (go read it it's really cool and I think it's one of my favourites). I'll spend my time reading it, and after that, I most probably will do a Harry Potter fic. Maybe I'll enter my Matrix fic, I'm not sure yet. I'm working on a short Ororo/Beast fic, if you're interested in knowing . . . I also have a few medium size X-Men fics that will come out this summer. School is over, so I'll have plenty of time to write, and so don't worry about my up dates 'cuz I'm about to spend two moths between my computer under the gazebo and my pool. No cool vacation for me this summer. Oh well. At least I can say I'm going to tour Italy with my friends (ya know, school outing) in April (so far away . . .)  
  
Thanks to all my reviewers, I love you all:  
  
Blaze: Your reviews are always fun  
  
Little angel: You live in New Zealand (¬_¬) . . . you are so darn lucky.  
  
Brushfire: The "Next Generation" stuff is in the sequel. As for your deduction about Destiny being in coma, it's not the right answer but your close . . . muahahah. You fell in the trap (but you're surly not the only one)!  
  
Xdivas: Yeah . . . I want you gals to update your story!  
  
JustandalwaysMo: Yay! At least you seem interested in the sequel! Oh . . . and there are, *koff koff*, many O/Cs in the sequel. Nathan won't be the main character (but he still has a big role). In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be the main character in *this* story.  
  
Tigereyes: Thanks, and sorry about your exams . . . mine were *all right* . . . go figure.  
  
Prostar99: I really like Destiny too! I can't wait until you all realize what and who she is!  
  
~Now, here's a very long chapter with full of stuff to make you all happy  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Chapter 37: Unwanted Reality  
  
Nathan leaned back in his chair, chewing on his already half grind up pencil. His available hand clicked the mouse and dragged it down the computer screen in front of him for him to be able to read the rest of the newspaper clipping he had found on the Internet.  
  
He sighed, and passed his hand in his hair again while he folded his legs beneath himself. Throwing his pencil on a notebook filled with his notes, he leaned forward and tapped a new Internet address in the specified bar. Soon enough, another page appeared. He rolled down the page and tapped in a blank research square the words 'genuine forecasting dreams'.  
  
He spent the next twenty minutes reading articles on that subject, but nothing he found was truly interesting, or similar to the dream he had had. Nothing talked about a little girl talking to you in your dreams.  
  
Nathan thought about everything she had said. First, she had asked why he left, then had told him about her being asleep and her mother waking her up. She was shocked he didn't recognize her, and said that she talked to her father in the same way, but that he didn't understand. She said she was real, but unreal because she was still asleep. She kept saying that she was ready to wake up . . . that he needed to save her, that she was afraid . . . she talked to other people because she had 'nothing else to do' . . . She caught other mutants' brainwaves . . . she was locked in a basement . . . her mother had faith that she was going to be able to wake her soon . . . She also said that she was there to fight for mutants. The 'New Generation', she had said . . . what did all of that mean? It was just like her last 'message': incomprehensible.  
  
Unable to think more about that matter, Nate decided to take a lunch break, because it was already approaching noon. He got up from his chair and left his room, walking slowly down the hallway, saluting some of his friends. He reached the kitchen a few moments later and found it empty except for his old buddy, Max, floating cross-legged above a chair, scooping up the last remains of a small Ben and Jerry chocolate ice-cream pot.  
  
"Hi, Nate," he said, passing his tongue on his chocolate covered lips. "How are ya doing?"  
  
"Great, just great," Nate said, his hands in his pockets, leaning on the wall. "Long time no see, hun?"  
  
"Yep," Max said, sniggering. "Where did you go?"  
  
"Boff . . . I moved around a little," Nathan answered vaguely. "I have a little problem for you."  
  
"Shoot," he said, dropping the now empty pot on the counter.  
  
"If a kid tells you stuff you don't understand, how do you do to try and figure it out?"  
  
Max raised his eyebrows, wondering what kind of problem Nate was trying to solve.  
  
"A kid . . . like, a five year old kid?" he asked, receiving a nod for answer. "Well . . . a kid doesn't use the right words most of the time . . . you probably would need to find synonyms or something, for some of the words . . ."  
  
Max paused a moment, Nathan leaning forward, interested in hearing what he thought. There was a moment of silence, broken by Nate's scream of surprise. Kitty had just walked thought the wall and through him at the same time, and had appeared in front of him, a wide smile on her face.  
  
"Don't do that!" Nathan let out. "You can't just . . . walk through people like that!"  
  
Kitty laughed.  
  
"Actually, I can," she said mockingly. "It's called 'my mutation'."  
  
Nathan shook his head in disapproval while Max called out Kitty's name to catch her attention.  
  
"How do you understand unintelligible stuff that a five year old tells you?" he asked.  
  
"Euh . . . who would like to know?" she asked, giggling.  
  
"Nathan, actually," Max said, smiling. "What's your theory?"  
  
"Boff . . . you listen and mix it up to end with something you understand, a guess. What type of question is that?"  
  
Nathan stayed silent for a moment, thinking about what Destiny had told him.  
  
"You know what?" he said finally, turning to his friends. "Come with me, I want to show you guys something."  
  
Nathan brought them both back to his room, and they settled down on his bed while he sat in front of his computer, and entered a new website.  
  
"Okay, lets try this," he said. "It a kid told you she was asleep, how could you translate it?"  
  
". . . I don't understand what you're trying to do, here," Max said, still floating in the air, like he did everywhere he went. "If a little kid tells you he's asleep, he's lying because he's talking to you at the moment. I that what you mean?"  
  
"No," Nathan said, shaking his head. "Lets say . . . I don't know . . . you were trying to understand . . . I don't know . . . a person who has a mental problem, maybe . . . how do you translate what he's saying? If he's saying 'I'm asleep', what could that person mean by that?"  
  
"Okay . . . sleeping . . . hum . . . like, not awake . . ." Kitty tried to guess. "Not . . . conscious . . ."  
  
"Unconscious! In coma!" Max said, playing with words. "Maybe that person is in coma."  
  
"Yes!" Nathan exclaimed happily. "Let me try that."  
  
He searched for little girls under seven in a state of coma, and narrowed his search exclusively in the United States. He came around with about forty children. The rest of these cases weren't talked about.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kitty asked looking over his shoulder.  
  
"A little research," he answered. "On something I was told. But I don't think you need to stay anymore, you can go."  
  
Kitty and Max didn't argue, seeing that he was already absorbed in his work. Kitty walked through the wall after saying bye and Max flew out the window to go play basketball with the others outside.  
  
Nathan was already in his own little world when they left, clicking on a couple of links to try and find something with more valuable information. But then it clicked: There was something important he had forgotten to specify in his demand. He rolled the page upwards and retyped a new demand: *mutant* girls under the age of seven in a state of coma, in the United Sates.  
  
He waited a few moments but nothing appeared, and he figured that there was no one by that description, thus the little girl going by the name of Destiny was possibly not in a state of coma. He tried to reach the last page that he had seen, but the computer looked frozen. He waited for a moment but nothing happened. Finally, after two to three minutes of waiting, a black page appeared. Writing soon appeared, and Nate's eyes widened as he realized that he was on a governmental page on the subject he was looking for. It was an Internet page on what the government was going about the 'mutant problem'. There was another square in which you were supposed to write what you were looking for. Nathan typed the same thing he had on the previous site, but this time, a page appeared, on mutants of all ages that were in coma, due to many different causes. Some were in coma because of operations gone wrong, others because of their mutations, and a few were purposely in coma because the government figured that they were too dangerous to be kept in captivity.  
  
Nathan kept on searching. He found, without too much trouble, some information about mutant children, and was horrified to see that more than one hundred youngsters were in mutant facilities, where humans were trying to 'help' them. Most of them had entered these facilities thanks to their parents. Nathan frowned.  
  
Half of the afternoon passed and he was still looking for his mystery girl when the four o'clock bell rang through the hallways. It was close to five thirty when something interesting caught his eye. A black and white picture of a little girl in a white nightgown. At first, she had seemed oddly familiar, but she wasn't Destiny. She was an illusion a mutant codenamed Mutant 143 was able to create in one's mind. He also had the gift of creating many other illusions thanks to his mind, but he wasn't the type of mutant to come and live at the mansion. He was a mutant ashamed of being what he is, and by that, he used his mutation to harm people. That was why he had been used as a test subject in a lab, somewhere in Northern Canada. Nothing else was said about him.  
  
Nothing else was said about mutant children in a coma. The only choice left was that Destiny wasn't in a coma.  
  
Growling, Nathan pushed himself back in his chair. He had searched all day, yet no answers came. No answers would ever come if he stayed in front of his computer screen, waiting for unspoken words to appear. He needed to go back home.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Nathan descended to the professor's office and knocked on the door, as he always did. As always, he received an answer almost immediately, and entered. He saluted the professor and walked to one of the chairs in which he sat down. He instantly jumped to the subject he wanted to talk about.  
  
"Professor, what happens when a psychic falls into coma?" he asked quickly.  
  
The professor stayed silent a moment, probably wondering why he was asking a question like that.  
  
"Well, it depends," the professor started. "Their mind is separated from their body, and so, some might wander into other minds, but it isn't very frequent. Another thing that could happen is that the psychic is stuck out of his or her body, and needs help from another psychic to re-enter their body. According to my studies, most of them are stuck in their own body, their mind being separated from everything and so they end up dieing very quickly, or have no chance of waking up."  
  
"Professor, you must remember . . . that psychic that comes in my head when I sleep?" he started. "Well . . . in her last message . . . she told me more things, including that her name was Destiny, and assured me that she didn't work for Magneto or anyone else. She told me quite shocking things like . . . her being asleep, locked in a basement somewhere."  
  
The professor frowned.  
  
"Locked up?" he asked. "Dear . . . well. I guess we should investigate then. But I'm telling you right now, I don't like this 'Destiny' too much, and I can assure you that she isn't at all in a coma, even if it was what it thought in the begging too."  
  
Nathan asked why he disliked her, wondering how the professor could despise that enjoyable little girl.  
  
"She's been sneaking around some of the school resident's minds during the night, when they sleep," the professor said. "She's been doing it for some time and knows what she's doing. I think she's looking for something and I don't believe that she's not working for anyone, or else she wouldn't sneak around that way, clearly avoiding my mind because she knows I can stop her."  
  
" . . . But . . . I need to find out what she's been telling me," Nate said. "I need to ask a few questions to my parents about her, and I was thinking about giving them a visit . . .Can Scott bring me to my town with the jet?"  
  
The professor didn't answer very quickly, but finished by accepting.  
  
"Scott and Ororo will accompany you there," he said. "And be careful."  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Thirty minutes later, Cyclops was conducting the jet above the clouds while Storm was creating some fog to mask their passage. Nathan was sitting in the back, wondering what he was going to say to his parents. Maybe showing up without any word to them for nearly a year wasn't a very good idea. Maybe he should have called first, but now, he couldn't do anything.  
  
Barely an hour and a half later, the jet landed in Ontario, in a forest not too far away from his home. Scott was to stay in the jet and Ororo was to come with Nate, to make sure he would be all right.  
  
They walked about a mile and a half, and reached Nathan's house, located at number twenty White Edge Lane. Nathan noticed that two cars were parked in front of his house, which meant that his father was there. Maybe he had decided to stay at home after Nathan's disappearance.  
  
Ororo decided to wait outside, letting Nathan walk to the door alone.  
  
Anxious, Nate didn't hurry in crossing the street and stood a few seconds in front of his home before finally marching to the entrance. He heard Pegasus start barking inside before he had even knocked, and had a feeling that his dog could catch his scent. Footsteps were heard inside and the door opened, revealing Nathan's mother. Nate would have sworn that his heart stopped beating for a moment as he saw his mom, and he could almost feel tears form behind his eyes. He just wanted to hug her.  
  
She looked at Nathan normally for a second, before realizing who it was. Her eyes narrowed and a nervous frown appeared on her face.  
  
"Nathaniel?" she asked, tilting her head and making Nathan's feeble smile disappear instantly.  
  
Shayleen Cage *never* called her son by his full first name, and Nathan knew that it meant that he wasn't welcomed, even if she pretended to be somewhat happy to see him. Nate's look saddened.  
  
"Come in," she said, her voice lightly shaky, moving aside to let him pass.  
  
Nathan walked in and noticed that nothing had really changed since his departure. Only one thing had changed, and it broke his heart to notice it: the pictures of him as a child had been removed from the walls.  
  
"W . . . why don't you come and take a bite?" Shayleen continued, playing with her hands, eyeing her son that had grown taller than her during his absence. "Your father and I were just about to eat."  
  
"Sure," Nate mumbled, looking around.  
  
He didn't take the time to take off his shoes and walked towards the dinning room, and saw his father eating at the end of the table. He looked up when he saw that his wife had let someone enter, and dropped his spoon when he recognized his son. He rose, his chair falling to the ground with a clacking noise, and the second later, he was hugging his boy, tears in his eyes.  
  
When they finally let go, Nate's father looked at him with half a smile on his face. He whipped a tear that had slid down his cheek and motioned Nathan to sit.  
  
"How are you doing?" he asked immediately, picking up his chair and sitting closer to where Nathan had taken place. "Do you have everything you need? Are you coming back home?"  
  
"I . . . I'm fine," Nathan mumbled. "I live at a school . . . for people like me. I'm continuing my studies, and -"  
  
"Why did you come back?" Shayleen interrupted, her fist hitting the table. "You're a mutant! I don't want you in my house!"  
  
"Mom!" Nathan yelled, his eyes flashing purple as he tried to control himself. "Fuck, I just came here to talk!"  
  
Nathan almost heard his father tell him to watch his language since it was so familiar to hear him say that, but nothing was heard and his parents stayed silent.  
  
He sat back down, so did his father and his mother followed, sitting in front of him.  
  
"I see that you're both doing well," he started, seeing that they were both waiting for him to talk. "And I've been doing not too bad too. I came back because I needed to ask you if you knew something about . . . a little girl who says she knows me."  
  
His parents looked at each other then back at him.  
  
"Since she knows me, I guessed that she would probably know you . . . " Nate trailed off. "Do you know any girls below the age of six who are in a coma?"  
  
"No we don't," Shayleen answered, shaking her head. "What kind of question is that? We don't know anything about you! Why can't you go away with your own sort and leave us alone? You're not part of this family anymore!"  
  
"Nathan, come with me," Nate's father , Philip, interrupted, getting up from his seat to get away from his wife. Nathan rose and followed him out the room, passed the back door to end up in the street a few moments later.  
  
They walked in silence up to the local store, and there, they both bought a drink. Nate took a coke and his father simply took a bottle of water. They started walking again.  
  
"You have to excuse her, Nate," Philip finally said. "You know how she hates mutants."  
  
"But dad . . . I'm her son," Nathan whispered, looking at his feet. "Acting like that is simply inhuman. And what am I supposed to think after this? Doesn't she know that I didn't ask to become a mutant? Doesn't she know that it's harder for me than for her?"  
  
"Nathan . . . there is another reason . . . to why she is acting so harshly," his father said. "But we swore to never tell you from the moment we got you. We knew from the beginning that you were going to be special. You never cried, you understood everything, you never had fits. You were a kid mothers wished to have, but you still had your little particularities that you managed to hide some way."  
  
Nathan looked up at his father, wondering where this conversation was going.  
  
"Nathan . . . you never really were part of the Cage family," his father continued as Nate made a questioning sound. "You see . . . You were in our hearts, but besides that . . . no, wait that's a bad start . . . You see, When your mother and I got married, we discovered that she couldn't have any children . . . and so . . . since we really wanted a child . . . we . . . we . . . we adopted you."  
  
Nathan spit out the gulp of coca-cola he had just taken, and looked up at his father wide-eyed, backing up in surprise.  
  
"WHAT? . . . no . . . just no . . . wha- man, that is a REALLY bad joke," Nathan yelled and mumbled, still backing away from the man he had considered his father for all those years. "NO!"  
  
"I'm sorry Nate, it's just that now . . . when you became a mutant . . . she didn't want you," Philip said. "But don't be mad, I'm still your father and you . . ."  
  
Nathan didn't get to hear the rest as he started running in the opposite direction. He ran to his house, nearly broke down the door and entered. His 'mother' was sitting in the living room.  
  
"Get out Nathan!" she yelled angrily. "People from the Mutant Detention Facility are coming to pick you up."  
  
Nathan's eyes immediately turned amethyst and Shayleen saw with her own eyes the boy's skin and hair become of a darker tone, Before she knew what had happened, she saw some sort of dagger come out of his wrist. He made a step forwards and she screamed as he threw his weapon and broke ornaments on the table.  
  
The next half hour was a blur in her mind. The MDF agents had arrived and Nathan had grew even angrier than before. He fought them, received hits that never seemed to affect him, and used whatever was coming out of his wrists to destroy everything in the room. One of the agents was killed, two were sent to the hospital in an extremely critical condition. When his father arrived, before ambulances had arrived to pick up the agents, he was waiting at the door, bruised, beaten and bleeding. His eyes had turned back to green and he looked sad. He gave him a simple good bye and walked away before he could be stopped.  
  
Nathan knew where Ororo was waiting and made a detour in order not to see her. He arrived in the woods and started running. Moments that seemed hours for him passed, and he finally stopped just as it started raining. Kneeling in the mud, stopping his healing factor, he let his wounds harm him as he cried, cried until the pain was too strong to fight, and he let himself fall into unconsciousness.  
  
Before slipping into sleep, he heard Destiny back in his head again.  
  
"You know the truth . . . don't cry . . . now come and save me . . . please . . ."  
  
But this time, Nathan ignored her call. All he could feel was pain, physically, mentally and spiritually. And all he heard besides the rain falling on the leaves of the forest, was the cracking of his back, piercing his shoulders savagely.  
  
He wanted to be left alone. He didn't want relieve.  
  
He let the pain consume him.  
  
¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸  
  
Cliff-hanger. muahahahahah  
  
The end is coming soon! Chapter 40 is coming! Review review review! 


	38. Evolution of a mutation

Hey folks! Just wanted to say that I *had* a better start of this chapter, but it got erased, and so I redid it, but it's not as good. I'll redo the part with the flower one day. And for the problem with Nate's back, you get to know stuff about it in this chap, but I can't really say too much about it because it's a surprise.  
  
Special thanks for my reviewers: Little Angel, Lily, Tigereyes, Prostar99, Shade and JB. You are all very very appreciated. ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 38: Evolution of a mutation  
  
Seeing that time was passing rather quickly and that Nathan didn't seem to be on his way back, Ororo decided to go see if everything was all right at his home, but only arrived to see ambulances and police cars driving away in the rain, leaving Nate's parents in the doorway.  
  
Storm was tempted to go talk to them to know what had happened to Nathan, but quickly changed her mind seeing their unfriendly faces as they walked back to their now completely destroyed living room.  
  
She didn't move for a couple of minutes, waiting to see if Nathan was going to reappear on the street, but he obviously didn't. Her main problem now was that she had no idea where he was, and needed to reach him before the police did, because they were now looking for him for numerous felonies.  
  
Seeing no other solution, Ororo silently slipped into the Cages' garden to go fetch Pegasus that she had heard barking. He would know where his master would be, and that is how Ororo was dragged into the forest and found Nathan, unconscious, lying in the middle of a pile of leaves and mud.  
  
With a lot of effort, she half dragged, half carried him to the jet, vaguely followed by the dog until he decided to return home. Cyclops helped Storm place Nate in the back of the jet, before taking off and flying towards the mansion. Nathan stayed unconscious during the whole flight, but woke up right after landing to force them to leave him alone and not bring him to the med lab, since it was the last thing he felt he needed, even if he had numerous infected wounds.  
  
He ran to his room and locked himself in, not wanting to be bothered by the others who would surely want to know what was wrong. He didn't wait too long for the others to go to sleep, and when he was certain that no one would be wandering down the halls, he opened his door, crept outside into the hall and tiptoed to the kitchen where he started searching the cupboards for something to drink. He soon found Logan's private beer compilation, and swiftly borrowed a crate that he brought back to his room.  
  
After locking himself in again, he opened the window, leaned on the side and decided to sit on the roof. It was wet and slippery, but he made it to the top rather easily, holding the crate in his arms. When he finally settled down, growling because of the cold that was quickly regaining him since his clothes were already wet from his staying in the woods, he found out that he didn't have a bottle opener.  
  
Rumbling, he easily created a dagger that came out of his wrist and used it to open his first bottle that he gulped down in one shot. Using the same dagger he had created, he opened a second bottle, this time starting to mutter to himself how his life sucked and that he was jinxed for eternity.  
  
He was finishing his fifth bottle when he started playing with his mutation, creating daggers, and he soon noticed that they were starting to . . . fade. Unconsciously, he thought of something else, as if he was trying to form it . . . and it worked.  
  
Thinking of a flower made one appear in his palm, right after some sort of blue light covered his whole hand. The flower, something that looked like a blue rose, looked so real that it almost frightened him. It was then he remembered hearing that he would be able to form a larger variety of things, but he wasn't in the state to remember who had told him that.  
  
He made the rose disappear and made a small bird appear in his hand. He noticed that the daggers were the only thing that seemed to come out of his wrists. Other objects appeared in the palm of his hand when he concentrated and thought of them carefully.  
  
He amused himself as he created different objects including money, a teddy bear and a CD. He knew these objects weren't exactly real. They were, as the professor said, the link between the belief of others and his own mind. If the others practiced a very long time and got used in believing what he was doing wasn't real, his mutation would be useless against them.  
  
Finally, he stopped using his mutation and concentrated on the fact that his 'parents' had lied to him all these years, making him start drinking again.  
  
He stayed on the roof for the rest of the night, and when the stars started to fade away and the first rays of sunshine were seen through the clouds that were slowly disappearing, he got up and descended to his room, where he took a shower and changed into drier clothes. His wounds had closed and only dark marks were left to be seen.  
  
Knowing that Jean would call him to the med lab and that students were going to ask questions, he decided to try and avoid them and so to go in a place he knew they wouldn't look immediately because he never went there: the Danger Room.  
  
It was empty this early in the morning, since everyone was probably not even up yet, or simply eating in the kitchen.  
  
He entered the changing room and took an X-Men suit that he quickly slipped on. He came back in the large room, but it was only then that he thought about the main problem: he didn't know how to program anything. Growling and cursing he started kicking the wall in frustration.  
  
"Wouldn't you prefer kicking some real shit, kid?" he heard a familiar voice ask from behind him.  
  
He turned around sheepishly and saw Logan leaning in the doorframe, smoking a cigar, a little smile on his unshaven face.  
  
"Let me program it for ya," he said, walking to a door on the other side of the room.  
  
Nathan didn't say anything and watched him go up to the command room. On the other side of the glass window, Logan pressed on a few buttons and soon enough, Nathan was brought into a virtual forest.  
  
Nate spent more that two hours fighting virtual mutants, animals or humans, and when Logan finally decided to make him stop, he found the boy with purple eyes covered with sweat, yet asking for more.  
  
"Kid, I think that's enough for today," Logan said calmly, walking over to him. "So, why did you come here so early?"  
  
Nathan sat down, leaning against the wall and took the time to catch his breath before answering.  
  
"To hide," he simply answered.  
  
"From what?" Logan asked, also sitting down. "There's nothing to hide from here."  
  
"Of course there is," Nathan objected, thinking about what had happened. "No matter how hard I try, something always happens to screw up my life."  
  
"It can't be that bad," Logan said, frowning.  
  
"Hell, it can. My whole life was a lie. The two people I considered my parents weren't at all and now reject me. I don't even know who I am," Nathan said calmly. "In fact, it's just like Magneto said: I'm not in my family here or there. I wonder how he knew."  
  
"I don't know who I was before, but I have the choice to decide who I'm gonna be tomorrow," Logan growled. "You should do the same thing. Just forget about the past and focus on the present and the future."  
  
Nathan smiled, leaning on the wall even more.  
  
"I know I won't be able to do that. I'm too curious," he said. "Some time soon, I'm going to start questioning myself about why I really am, and I'm going to have to . . . hum . . . Never mind."  
  
Logan was about to say something else when they heard the door open, and saw Jean walk into the Danger Room, not looking too happy. She sighed seeing Logan and Nathan together.  
  
"Nathan," she warned. "In my office NOW, or else."  
  
"Jean, I don't need this now," Nathan muttered, staying where he was.  
  
"Fine," she said, before using her power to life Nathan off the ground while he yelled in surprise.  
  
Logan just laughed watching the red-head march towards the exit with Nathan floating a few feet behind her. But Nate wasn't stupid and knew that Jean didn't know about his evolved power yet. He made his palms face each other and soon enough a blue orb started floating between his hands. It grew bigger and bigger, taking the shape of a human being, and finally taking Nate's traits. He made himself move forwards and fell to the floor with a large thud while the double he had created floated behind Jean since she thought he was Nathan.  
  
Nate couldn't help start laughing seeing that Jean didn't notice anything. He got up and smiled at Logan before running off to change back into his clothes and disappear before Jean noticed the trickery.  
  
Logan sighed deeply once he was gone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Not too long after arriving in the med lab, Jean noticed that the person she was controlling with her power wasn't Nathan. Once she guessed that, the illusion in front of her vanished and it was then that she had to start her search for Nate again.  
  
She found him in the garage and it was then he had to give up and be brought to the mad lab while he kept repeating that he didn't need a medical exam and that he wanted to be left alone.  
  
"Sit down and stop being such a baby," Jean told him, waving towards the X- Ray stand. "I need to check your shoulder blades. There's something strange going on with them, but I can't put my finger on it."  
  
Nathan growled in discontentment but obeyed. He laid on the cold metal platform in silence while the machine took X-Rays of his shoulders.  
  
When it was over, she made him sit on a chair while she waited for the X- Rays to become visible, and when they did, she gawked at the pictures that she placed to the light, in order to see them better.  
  
"What's the problem with me now?" growled Nathan, slumping in his chair. "My shoulders turned into marshmallow? In knives? Or they're simply gone?"  
  
"None of the above," Jean muttered. "Hum . . . besides the fact that they're breaking up and are now three times their size . . . because of the X-Gene."  
  
Nathan laughed sardonically.  
  
"Well, it's just-"  
  
"Would you stop that?" Jean interrupted, watching the other pictures. "It seems that . . . the bones in your shoulders are sort of growing, I think. If it keeps up like that, you could get . . . paralysed."  
  
"Just GREAT," Nate yelled. "My life couldn't get many better, but with that, you just made my day, Jean . . . which comes back to say that I'm jinxed."  
  
Nathan stormed out of the room without Jean being quick enough to stop him, but she could still hear him in the hallway.  
  
"I'm so sick of all of this," he was saying.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two chapters left . . . muahahah.  
  
Review! I want loads of reviews! 


	39. Can't Stand It

Hello, readers. I'm not proud of this chapter. Its just there to fill in the gap to reach the end of the story. It WAS better. But you know the story . . . my computer erased it and I'm too lame to do it nicely again. I don't know how you're all going to find it, but I can tell you that the last chapter is very fun. ^_^ Cliffhangers . . . muahahah.  
  
Little chat with my nice reviewers:  
  
TORO: I know exactly what you mean. But don't worry. Go read at the end of the chapter . . .  
  
Little angel: This chapter sucks. It's the most horrible one (as in short, weird and lame). But thanks for your support! And yes, the sequel is very well started.  
  
Escaflowne: Yay! You're back! I know it's evolving slowly, but I wanted it to fit exactly 40 chapters. And Nate's shoulders look normal on the outside, it's that the bones are sort of growing oddly and cracking up. Ouch. And the romance is really scaled down. I didn't want it that way, but it's what happened.  
  
Tigereyes: I'm sorry, I don't have cable, I don't know anything about Charmed and so I didn't know it would be the same. ^_^ (*I'm lame!*)  
  
Lily: thank you! And I can't talk about the paralyzed thing. It's a surprise!!  
  
Prostar99: Yes! I know! I'm going to go see Pirates of the Caribbean with my friend who is also an Orlando Boom fan (I converted her). And well . . . I'd like to have your email so I can send you a little thing explaining Destiny and all . . . since you seem to be interested. And you have a nice imagination. Lol. ^_^  
  
Shade: It's funny seeing how you two get along ^_^ . . . and I'm glad you like it!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 39:  
  
A few days had passed since Nate had learned that he had been adopted and that there was truly something wrong with his shoulders, and he had stayed awfully calm. He had attended classes, has spent time with his friends, but he discovered that his life was slowly slipping back to what it had been before, back in his town: he excelled at school, his friends barely new him even if they thought the contrary, he continued his criminal activities and no one knew about them. The only difference was that he was a mutant. He wasn't all-powerful, but mastered his power pretty well, and that was what made him dangerous. He could kill someone by making them believe that he had killed them. Making the mind believe that instantly destroyed a person.  
  
One of the people Nate talked to the most was Logan. They talked about many things, things that Nathan couldn't discuss with Rogue or Kitty. Things to do with killing people, using powers for our own causes and other simple things like that. They had grown close and it surprised students to see the Wolverine talk with someone else that Rogue.  
  
On the other hand, Nathan worked out a lot in the Danger Room, and seemed to get rid of his anger that way. The professor had tried to talk to him about what had happened with his parents, but Nathan didn't want to hear anything about it. He especially didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, and that was why he didn't say anything about his being adopted or the probability that he could become paralysed. He didn't truly believe Jean about that, but still, he couldn't insinuate anything else. She was the doctor.  
  
As Nathan had said to Logan, after a few days of extreme angriness towards his being adopted, he started being tempted by curiosity. He wanted to know who he really was, who were his real parents and why they had abandoned him, but as always, no answers came.  
  
Destiny hadn't 'contacted' Nathan for quite a while and seemed to be leaving him alone for now. Maybe she knew he was angry. Even Magneto was leaving him alone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jean had requested Nate in the mad lab again, because she wanted to study his back bone structure again, wanting to find out why his bones were growing in that particular way.  
  
"It happened when I fell off the roof at the docks, when Magneto and I were fighting," Nathan said. "I fell off and I hit the ground, and it hurt. It's been cracking and hurting since then."  
  
"Did you get another shock on your back since then?" Jean asked, noting what he was saying on a large sheet of paper.  
  
Nathan answered negatively and slouched back into his seat, getting seriously bored of repeating the same thing over and over again, watching Jean check his X-Rays, write things down on her computer or check his back again.  
  
"What I don't understand is that it's not visible that your shoulder blades are bigger," Jean noticed. "And they're still growing. The cracks are oblique, like zigzags, but are perpendicular and parallel to one another, and seem to be following a pattern . . . Maybe we should operate you just to make sure that nothing-."  
  
"No," Nathan said. "Absolutely not. I don't want to stay here and I'm sick of always having to question my mutation. Just leave me alone."  
  
"Nathan, I can't do that," Jean said. "It might be something dangerous for you."  
  
"I don't care, I'm leaving," Nate sighed, rising from his seat and walking out slowly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nathan had spent most of the morning thinking, and had decided to talk to Kitty about what he thought was best for him to do, what he knew he needed to do.  
  
He walked to her dorm that she was sharing with Jubilee and Rogue, knocked on the door and was greeted by Jubilee's happy mood. He asked to see Kitty and they both walked out to talk in private.  
  
"How are you doing?" Nathan asked, holding her hand as they walked through the empty hallways.  
  
"Not bad, and you?" Kitty said, returning the question.  
  
"It was just what I wanted to talk to you about," Nathan said uneasily. "I don't feel . . . well here."  
  
Kitty stopped and turned to face him.  
  
"What?" she asked quickly.  
  
"Oh, it's not you, Kitty," Nathan tried to reassure her. "It's just that I'm not . . . made to stay here. I don't like it, I don't want to be an X- Man, I'm sick of always staying in the med lab, I don't agree with the professor with most of his ideas, I'm sick of hiding who I really am all the time, I . . . I . . . I can't stay here."  
  
"No Nathan, don't do this again," Kitty pleaded, tears starting to be visible in her eyes.  
  
"There's no other way," Nathan whispered. "It's just . . . too much for me to take."  
  
"I'll come with you, we'll go where you want to go, I-"  
  
"No Kitty, you need to stay here," Nathan objected. "You're happy here, you're safe and you're accepted. I need the contrary to live in a way I could try to define as normal. I don't want you to be sad or unhappy."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No Kitty, I don't want to leave you behind your back, I want us to be happy," Nate said. "I want to take you on a date tonight."  
  
"But . . . all right, Nate," she said finally, whipping the tears from her face. "Since . . . fine."  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
It was nearly four o'clock and Nathan was in his room, trying out some of his clothes, to see what would be best on his date with Kitty. While he tried on different things, confusion and remorse started to puzzle him.  
  
~Maybe I should have waited after the date to tell her I was leaving,~ he thought. ~So that she wouldn't be sad during the whole outing . . . ah, damn . . . but then, if I told her after, it would seem . . . like we were breaking up.~  
  
*You're leaving her here and aren't even thinking of coming back and you don't consider that breaking up a relationship?* an interior voice asked mockingly, making him sigh in frustration.  
  
~Hum . . . I did the right thing,~ he thought, shaking his head. ~I don't want to be here anyways.~  
  
*You keep running away from everything,* his conscience continued. *Just settle down.*  
  
~I can't, I'm not happy,~ Nathan said, continuing to argue against his own thoughts.  
  
*You're never happy.*  
  
Nate preferred ignoring that last statement.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Before dinner, Nathan walked to Kitty's room but found it empty. He walked down to the main door an found a little group of people assembled there. Bobby, Rogue, John, Jubilee and Max all seemed ready to leave somewhere. Kitty looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"Now, we heard that you were leaving," Jubilee said, her hands on her hips. "And that you were going on one last date with Kitty."  
  
Nathan looked at her, wondering where all of this was going.  
  
"You didn't think that we were going to let you go just like that, hum?" Rogue said.  
  
"We're inviting ourselves on your date," John continued.  
  
"It's not fair if Kitty is the only one who gets to go with you," Max joined in.  
  
"We want to go together," Rogue finished.  
  
Nathan stayed silent, looking at each of them, then finally looking at Kitty, as if asking her opinion. She answered for him.  
  
"We'll need to take two cars then," she said.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Oh well. I was tempted to talk about where they went on the date and make some MDF (mutant detention facility) guys show up, but I just said . . . naaaahhh. I didn't want to complicate things, and so this chapter isn't that long, so . . . I can talk about the fic!! Tada!!  
  
You see . . . in the beginning, I created Nathan by mistake. (what?). I wasn't at all supposed to make him the principal character, and I was supposed to insert things from Unfinished Business (the sequel) in this story. I just got carried away. And so, that is how this whole fic was based around one character.  
  
I was a bit shocked (0_0) to see that most of you wanted Nate to go with Kitty, instead of Rogue. I was planning on making him go with Kitty, then break up and then going with Rogue and then all along Kitty's jealous, but then I started anticipating the sequel . . . haha. And so I created another character (my favourite up to date) to go with Rogue!!! ^_^ (No, Nathan's not going to be with Rogue in the sequel, but they will kiss . . . mueheheh). I must be disappointing some readers here, but I can assure you that you'll like the boy who's going to go with Rogue. And Bobby is going to be angry.  
  
Humm . . . Hooligan is 'one' of my favourite characters and will be used a lot in the sequel. His big brother is a very evil mutant (evil mutants rock) . . . but then again, all the mutants I created for the sequel are somewhat evil. Haha. Destiny is a bit weird and freaky, but you'll just go 'ahhhh' when I explain her odd 'situation'.  
  
I would love to say more but . . . I can't!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
This chapter is boring but I would still like a review! Please! I want as many reviews possible to send in my last chapter! And believe me, you won't be disappointed . . . if you don't mind cliffhangers.  
  
^_^  
  
Review! Review! Review! 


	40. A New Beginning

Here is my last chapter, making this the first long story that I finish! I'm so happy!  
  
For my latest reviewers:  
  
Tigereyes: YOU ARE THE REAL NAPS- euh, TIGEREYES! . . . ad yes, I changed my name a couple of times cuz I was bored.  
  
Remnants-2011: thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  
  
Prostar99: well I sent you an email . . . and I don't dislike the actress that got kissed too much . . . I hate Kate Bosworth, the girl who's dating Orlando . . . I will blackmail her . . . in the meantime, enjoy this chap!  
  
Little angel: thank you for reading and I haven't forgotten about emailing you back, I'm just checking about the vet thing and all . . .  
  
Lily: I want you to continue your fic!!! Please!  
  
Shade: hi! ^_^ tootsie rools? Running in the rain? Swimming? o_0 okay.  
  
justandalwaysMo: thank you so much! ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 40: A New Beginning  
  
Nathan woke up in the common room around ten, surrounded by all his friends who hadn't woken up yet. All were installed in sofas and large mushy armchairs, seeming to still be in dreamland. Nathan yawned and looked around him, finding Kitty sleeping by his side, cutting the circulation in his arm. Bobby and Rogue were in a nearby couch, John was slipping out of his armchair and was going to hit the floor any time now, Max was floating a few feet above a lounger and last but not least, Jubilee was in another sofa, her head up side down nearly touching the ground.  
  
Nathan watched them for a while, remembering that they had been too tiered to climb up the stairs, and that Jubilee would have woken half the mansion with her singing ( . . . she was drunk). They had all camped out in the common room, and seemed to not have been disturbed at all. In fact, the only reasonable explanation that Nathan found was that they were Sunday, and that no student was up yet.  
  
He heard and saw Rogue stir, stretching so widely that she made Bobby fall to the ground, waking him up instantly. John fell to the floor too, but didn't seem to wake up and Jubilee just kept on snoring quietly.  
  
"Ow!" exclaimed Bobby, rubbing his side. "Ah . . . I can't feel my head."  
  
"Lucky you, I feel it too much," groaned Rogue, rubbing her temple. " . . . But hey, it was fun! We should do that more often."  
  
Floating lightly sideways, Max yawned loudly and turned over, seeming to be sleeping on an invisible bed. They heard a grunt coming from the entrance and they all looked to see Logan standing there, a wolf-like grin plastered on his stubbly face.  
  
"Ha . . . you kids partied pretty ruff, eh? Didn't the guy serving you drinks stopped after a while?" he asked.  
  
"As long as he gets a good tip, he doesn't care how much we order!" Rogue mumbled, shaking her head.  
  
A plaintive moan was heard from Jubilee's couch, and they all turned to see her holding her head, her knees brought up to her chin.  
  
"Your first hangover, I suppose?" grunted Logan, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick," they all heard Jubilation mumble weakly.  
  
"Do you have anything for her?" Kitty, who had just woken up, asked, looking at Logan.  
  
"I might," he said. "Just a sec."  
  
Logan walked out, heading for the kitchen and in the meantime, John seemed to come around. He blinked a couple of times and grinned, falling over to the side, on the floor, where he stayed still. Logan came back a few moments later with aspirins and a glass of water that he handed to Jubilee.  
  
Nathan yawned and rose from his place, his shoulders cracking again, without inflicting him any pain this time.  
  
"I need to go now," he mumbled making a few steps towards the door.  
  
"Are your bags already set?" Bobby asked.  
  
"Yep," Nathan said. "I just need to bring them down."  
  
"You sure you want to go?" Rogue asked tentatively.  
  
Nathan turned to her, a small, weak smile on his lips.  
  
"I need to."  
  
It didn't take much time for Nathan to leave. He quickly changed into other clothes and brought down a bag and two suitcases from his room, that he placed in his car's trunk. It was cold outside, winter was at their doorstep and it was very windy, the freezing breeze blowing dead leaves away.  
  
Nathan said good-bye to everyone, telling them that he was going to try to come back. After hugging him, Jean immediately went down to the med lab. The professor told him again that he was always welcomed and Scott and Ororo both made it clear that they didn't want him to go. Logan simply ruffled his hair and told him that he was sure they'd meet again.  
  
After saluting his friends one last time at the entrance, Nathan was gone.  
  
~~~  
  
Three teenagers, obviously not living at the school, were perched on the mansion's wall, near the closed gate. From there, they could see what was going on at the entrance. Their eyes followed the people's coming and going, stopping here and there on a few youngsters, but they seemed to be mainly looking at Nathan.  
  
The two first teens were boys, both hidden under large black trench coats. The first had his face covered by a hood, but not the second, and so his dyed blue hair could be seen. The last person of the trio was a girl with natural dark red hair, a bit like Jean's, that arrived her bellow the shoulders. She was wearing a simple vest, jeans and a shirt with some sort of design resembling a dragon, on the front.  
  
"He's got the same shoulder problem, but he hasn't figured out what it is," the girl stated. "And the same appearance thing, you know. His hair and eyes change colour, he keeps having power problems," she continued, sitting on the wall, letting her legs dangle on the road's side. "It's obviously him, I mean, just look at his face."  
  
"How did you know he was here?" the boy with blue hair asked to the other one, an English accent in his voice.  
  
"I first noticed him when we were at the docks," the hooded boy said in a strangely calm way, something making his voice naturally fear-provoking. "Before we started the fire."  
  
The girl sniggered.  
  
"Yeah, and Xavier had no clue," she said. "The plan was flawless."  
  
"Yeah, but how did you know he was *here*?" the blue haired boy continued. "We totally lost him afterwards . . ."  
  
"Destiny helped me find him," the other boy continued, still looking at Nathan.  
  
"Destiny's dead," the girl objected.  
  
"No she's not," the blue haired boy said, rolling his eyes. "She's simply not alive."  
  
"There's a difference?" the girl continued, apparently not getting along with her interlocutor.  
  
"Y-"  
  
"Would you two just shut up?" the other boy interrupted, clearly aggravated. "You're both wrong, and don't expect me to tell you anything. I'm not allowed to."  
  
The duo looked at him a second, but obeyed, and stopped talking, looking back at the grounds.  
  
"Okay, let's leave before Xavier spots us," the hooded boy finally said, turning to the road's side. "He'll now we're up to something and I don't want him after us before we finish the job."  
  
"Okay," the English boy said. "So . . . we keep an eye on . . . what's his name . . . Nathan, for a while? I'll have someone follow him."  
  
The trio jumped off the wall and landed on the other side. They walked away to a car parked on the other side, got in, and drove off. Xavier hadn't noticed anything.  
  
~~~  
  
Jean let Nathan say good-bye to the others, knowing that good byes made her feel a little uneasy. She went down to the lower levels to get her mind off things.  
  
Down in the med lab, Jean sat in her chair in front of her desk and turned the computer screen on, as her fingers started tapping madly on the keyboard. She entered her files, and read the names of her students, all ordered in an alphabetical row. She soon found a logo labelled 'Cage, Nathaniel' she clicked on it and a partially blank page appeared on the screen. There was a picture of him in a corner, his name, birth date, hometown and other things written about him. She clicked on a blank square in a corner, and started tapping her report.  
  
'Since before his arrival at the school, Nathan's mutation has been evolving quite oddly. The first signs of mutation appeared less than twenty- four hours after the accident that triggered the X-Gene in his system. Fangs were the first things to appear, and he soon developed heightened senses. These gifts appeared and disappeared on irregular basis. It was two months after his transformation that he had a second accident, which sent him in a coma for six weeks. We can only guess that his mutation reacted badly to this situation, even though it was then he realized that he had a minor healing power that helped him cure his wounds.  
  
Affected by the fact that he was a mutant, Nathan unconsciously developed a hate towards himself. His mind altered this hate into his conscience, and so his conscience reflected his hate towards everything. His mutation consisted of transforming what the mind thought was real, into reality, and so this is how his conscience developed a body of it's own. After fighting his conscience, Nathan arrived to master this strange power, along with daggers he formed the same manner he did for his conscience.  
  
After this, his physical appearance somewhat changed, as his conscience 'reintegrated' his self. He took some of the features the body his conscience had, such as amethyst eyes and darker hair. It is only now that I realize that these changes could maybe have not been made by his conscience. I cannot clearly explain from what these changed might have come, but I do not think it comes by the X-Gene or his mutation.  
  
Before his departure, he had a certain problem with his back, which made me think he probably had broken something. I had no idea that it went much farther than that. According to the X-Rays taken shortly after his accident, I have noticed that an excess of bones has been developing itself on his back, splitting his shoulder blades that have extended quite dangerously. They're function remains a mystery until I receive more time to continue my researches.  
  
The amount of powers given by the X-Gene in his body is extremely odd, and no clear explanation can be given about it yet. He is the first mutant that I encounter, who's body did not accept the X-Gene in a normal way, and who's powers only last a short period of time before disappearing for an unclear period. Half of the 'powers' he has gained will certainly not stay in him for long. His ears, fangs, teeth and skin changes are all bound to stop one day or another. Even his gift of materializing the thoughts of the mind is surely going to disappear sooner than we all think, probably just to be replaced by another mutation, which will finally stay in him . . . (?) On the other hand, his minor healing power and heightened senses are probably going to stay. To finally come back on the fact that his shoulder blades are growing abnormally, nothing can be said yet.'  
  
Jean paused for a long moment, re-reading what she had written, and finally getting up from her seat. Nathan would be far-gone by now, and who could know if he would ever come back? Sure, he had promised that he would, but how much time would he spend away? A couple of days . . . or weeks . . . or months . . . or even years.  
  
A sigh of melancholy freed itself out of her mouth, but she didn't want to think about Nathan for now, because she didn't like the thought that he was out on his own, in a world that hated and feared mutants.  
  
She walked to a counter and took a cloth as she started cleaning some stuff, still trying to get her mind off things. She spent fifteen minutes like that, until she decided to use her power to pick up everything that might have fallen behind the counter.  
  
She found a couple of pencils, two vials of medication and a couple of papers. She made sure the medication vials weren't broken, and cleaned them before putting them back at the right place. The pencils went back on her desk, and she was about to throw away the crumpled papers when her eyes fell on a little detail above one of the sheets: the name Nathaniel Cage. Curious, she took the sheet and read the first few lines before looking down at the chart below.  
  
It was the blood test she had given him so long ago. She looked down at the analysis, and her eyes started catching odd details that she knew had seen before. After a few moments of calculations, she rushed back to her computer and started tapping things on it. She entered another folder, and reached a big chart of statistics, a troubled look on her face. Looking back down at the paper she had in her hands, her mouth fell open in surprise.  
  
"This simply can't be," she whispered, something seeming like fright in her voice.  
  
She tapped something, and what she read next confirmed her insinuations.  
  
"Oh dear Lord," she mumbled, her eyes as wide as tennis balls.  
  
Shocked, she grabbed the paper she had let next to her computer and she ran out of the med lab, praying to God that Nate was still on the grounds. She entered the elevator, pressed on the first floor button and waited impatiently for the door to open. When it did, she ran out, dodging a couple of students walking by, until she finally reached the front door. She opened it and looked outside. She noticed Kitty sitting on the front steps, a faint unhappy smile on her lips.  
  
"Is he gone?" Jean asked desperately.  
  
"Yeah, he left ten minutes ago," Kitty said. "Why? He forgot something?"  
  
Jean didn't answer, and just stared at the metal gate at the end of the path. The paper she was holding fell to the floor and Kitty caught it. She took one glance at the paper, before handing it back to Jean, knowing that it was just medical notes she would probably never understand.  
  
Jean took the paper without looking away from the gate. She sighed, and walked back inside slowly, still keeping a totally perplexed look on her face.  
  
Scott and Logan were inside, arguing about something. Logan had a bag on his shoulder, showing that he was about to leave.  
  
"You're leaving, Logan?" she asked, interrupting their dispute.  
  
"Yeah," he said, turning to her. "I'm going back in Alberta, just to see if I can find . . . stuff about the past."  
  
Jean smiled.  
  
"Well, have a nice trip," she said, leaving to let Logan continue arguing with Scott about something to do with someone taking a certain bike in the garage.  
  
Jean slowly walked back to the med bay and after taking another good look at the sheet, placed it in Nathan's folder and put it away. She was tempted to ask the professor to call back Nathan with his power, but decided not to do so. Nathan would come back, and when he did . . . he would receive answers.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Logan left on Scott's bike a few minutes later, after giving Rogue a big hug, Scott a glare and a heart-melting smile to Jean and Ororo. The professor said good-bye, wishing him a pleasant trip and reminding him that he was very welcomed to come back.  
  
"Sure Chuck," Logan had said, puffing his chest sarcastically. "I mean, what would you all do without me?"  
  
So that is how everything went back to 'normal'. In the next weeks, no news were heard of Nate, but the professor somehow knew -without even using Cerebro-, that he was somewhat fine. No one knows if he finally found his parents and real family. Kitty went back to her life, staying single with the hope that Nate was going to come back. Rogue started dating Bobby, and Max had decided to leave the school, shortly after Nate's departure. He had said that he was going to go back to his family, knowing that they would accept him as a mutant.  
  
In the meantime, they were all waiting, knowing that finally, in the end, they all had A life Worth Living.  
  
To be continued . . . Unfinished Business.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CLIFFHANGERS!!! Who were the trio spying on Nathan? Who's Destiny? Why did they burn the docks? Why are they avoiding the professor? What's going on with Nate's back? What was on his file thingy? What did Jean find out? What's going on with his shoulders? What's going to happen to him? . . . *sniff* . . . I'm so proud of myself. ¬_¬  
  
Thank you to all my reviewers, you've been extremely helpful and supportive, I hope you all liked it.  
  
Tigereyes, Shade, Chaos Insues, X-Divas (Lily, Audy and Kristy), justandalwaysMo, Blaze, Little Angel, JB, TORO, Escaflowne, remnants-2011, Catz, Simply Myself, skibummat, gr33n pixie, Brushfire, Chloe, fireball, Ice Phoenix, StarzOfPromise, amethyst, Someone, Cristi, Imaginator, Visio, Chelsea, Blue Fairy, Rosie, Nora, just to say hi, Victoria Wolf, Glory, ezrajade, don'tgottanameyet, wOLF, almudena, Wolvie's girl, gigigigirl, Emily-may from paradise, Formaly Known As LordBob, gabi, WildWolvie, Queen of hearts, The Comic Collector, Blayze Iskillion Firestorm, Sarah, The Reader, TheGriffin, Scary Vampiress, (and anybody else that I might have forgotten)  
  
THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!  
  
Hoping to see your reviews in Unfinished Business,  
  
Wild Craze  
  
P.S.: I will now reread all my chapters with my beta reader and correct all my stupid mistakes ^_^  
  
P.P.S.: You will be added on the list if you review now! ^_^ 


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